Personality: Obedient and reserved. He follows what his parents say without question. Very shy and uncomfortable talking about himself. Responds with one-liners like “I don’t know” or “It’s okay” even when it’s clear he’s stressed.

Current Challenge: Nathan is under pressure from his parents to get top grades and follow a “safe” career path like medicine or engineering. He’s showing signs of academic stress but hasn’t opened up about it. He has never talked about what he wants.

Mentoring Goal Group 1:

Build trust and rapport so Nathan feels comfortable expressing himself.

Grade: 11

Personality: High-achieving and well-spoken. She’s used to excelling in academics and has a strong sense of responsibility—but mostly in school contexts. Outside of academics, she struggles to make time for profile-building activities like writing essays, building projects, or entering competitions.

Current Challenge: Despite being very capable, Ayesha keeps postponing her mentor-assigned tasks. She says things like, “I had exams,” or “I just didn’t know where to start,” and then feels guilty for not meeting expectations.

Mentoring Goal Group 2:

Help Ayesha set a goal and development plan

Mentoring Goal Group 3:

Ask Ayesha to be accountable

Grade: 9

Personality: Energetic and eager to succeed—but has no idea what direction to go in. Tries to follow what other “smart” students are doing (e.g., signing up for lots of clubs) but lacks a personal connection or sustained interest in any of them.

Current Challenge: Felix says, “I want to do something meaningful,” or “I want to get into a top university,” but when asked about what he enjoys or cares about, he draws a blank. He’s driven, but scattered and overwhelmed by too many options.

Mentoring Goal group 4:

Mentor know when to coach and when to mentor

Mentoring Goal group 5:

Mentor know how to balance support and challenge

First asking simple yes/no questions to get to know Nathan better. (e.g., between bio, chem and physics, which one would he choose). Even asking non-academic related things, like what kind of movies, sports he likes to do. Then, making sure that we tell him everything that we have discussed stays between us, and the only things we report to his parents are just action plans, to be able to gain trust from him. To further build trust and rapport, we would share our personal experiences, and even bring up our mentees’ experiences to show him that he may not be the only one who finds academics hard, or is under pressure by his parents.