Following a developmental model of career planning and preparation, an ementoring program was devised for first semester freshmen to (1) heighten career awareness and stimulate career exploration in food and agricultural sciences; (2) expand interest and willingness to follow career opportunities beyond the regional geographic area; and (3) stimulate deeper career exploration and development through participation in job shadowing and professional organization conferences. The ementoring program was part of a career portfolio prepared in sections of AGRI 1201, Agriculture and Human Sciences as a Profession, that were major specific for animal science majors. Impact of the experience on students was evaluated with pre- and postmentoring questionnaires using Likert-scale (1-5, 1 = disagree or low level), selection (check those that apply), and open-ended questions. Pre-mentoring questionnaires (n = 128, 2002-2005) showed a willingness to participate in the ementoring program; however, students were reluctant to relocate for career reasons. Results revealed naivete about careers, limited career awareness and work experience. A total of 79 post-mentoring questionnaires were submitted from 2002 to 2005. Post-mentoring results indicated gains in career awareness (means of 3.84-4.23 across years) and that gains were related to the ementor (means of 3.33-4.00). Interest in career exploration also increased (means of 3.67-4.39) as did willingness to relocate for career purposes (mean of 3.64-4.15). The ementoring experience was perceived as a beneficial experience that included problem solving (38-64%), goal identification (33-67%), and career insight (44-72%). From 77 to 88% of students wanted to continue email communication with their ementor after the course-related requirement was completed. (Contains 9 tables.)