Hong Kong students and alumni celebrate success of mentoring programme

by Jessica Adams

10 January 2014

A mentoring programme established by alumni in Hong Kong is helping more than 50 students with their personal and professional development.

Launched by the Imperial College Alumni Association of Hong Kong during a visit by the President & Rector Sir Keith O’Nions in May 2013, the new mentoring programme gives Hong Kong students the opportunity to arrange one-to-one sessions with alumni to seek advice on careers and personal development.

Dr Paulina Chan (Electrical Engineering, 1977), who is championing the scheme, says it enables students to continue their education beyond the core curriculum. “It fits perfectly with my personal vision of real education, which is well beyond studying and making all A’s,” she adds.

The programme is run by volunteers and draws on the strength of the College’s alumni community in Hong Kong. The process of matching mentors and mentees began in June 2013, and an orientation session took place at the Craigengower Cricket Club Hong Kong on the morning of July 27 2013. Now, more than 50 pairings have been formed.

Paulina with a prospective mentor, Winne Tsoi (MSc International Health Management 2008)

Paulina notes that the learning goes both ways. “I’ve learnt from my mentee Lorraine about the choice of courses in her degree, so I’m learning what’s considered compulsory from the eye of the academics,” she says. “I also found out that my mentee Lorraine’s first lab at Imperial was the same first lab that I had when I was a student, which taught us how to use an oscilloscope!” she adds.

The scheme offers a chance for mentees to draw on their mentors’ experiences since leaving university. Cannis Chan (Chemical Engineering), a student mentee and a member of the mentoring taskforce, says, “We might be quite confused about what we want to do in the future but the alumni have already experienced all these feelings when they graduated from Imperial.”

"My first meeting with my mentor ended up being a very simple dinner in a fast food restaurant but we spent two hours talking non-stop."

– Cannis Chan

The scheme is also forging friendships. “It’s nice that mentors are also very good friends,” says Leon Lee (Biochemistry), a prospective mentee involved with the scheme. Cannis agrees. “My first meeting with my mentor ended up being a very simple dinner in a fast food restaurant but we spent two hours talking non-stop. He was interested in what life is like for students now and how I spend my days at Imperial, and because he’s just a bit older than me it feels like we are friends.”

In addition to the meetings between mentors and mentees, two larger group events have also been organised; a mid-summer wine tasting reception in September 2013, and an afternoon tea in January 2014. Both events were attended by current and prospective mentors and mentees, as well as patrons, alumni, and fellow Imperial students in or from Hong Kong.

These activities are complemented and enhanced by the year-round calendar of events arranged by the Hong Kong Alumni Association. These include a freshers reception, a welcome-back event for recent graduates returning to Hong Kong, an annual Christmas party, a presentation ceremony for scholarships for Imperial students from Hong Kong, community service, technical talks and visits, and golf, boat and hiking trips.

Ken Ho, Chairman of the Hong Kong Alumni Association, says, “The mentoring programme constitutes one of the association's signature initiatives and provides a platform for alumni to share their life lessons and wisdom in order to help nurture the talents of our next generation. I am excited by the prospect for further growth of the scheme, and I look forward to seeing its benefits in the years to come."

Imperial has alumni groups and volunteers all around the world. Find out about getting involved.

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