Mentor: Anthony Zhou, Managing Director of Vopak Terminal Zhangjiagang Company Limited 
Mentee: Charles Zhang

My mentor, Mr. Anthony Zhou, is quite a gentleman. One impression I have about Anthony is that he is very proactive in planning everything. I know when some of my classmates would like to meet mentors their mentors are sometimes too busy. My mentor always planned the subject and time for our next meeting. As a mentor, Anthony has helped me in many ways.

First, he has helped me to better understand my character and interests. Anthony spent a lot of time deeply analyzing my past work and life experiences and guided me to better understand my character, behaviours, habits and interests. Some things are not easy to change, while others are possible to change. It is actually very difficult to know yourself well. It takes a lot of hard thinking and guidance from an experienced mentor.

Anthony also helped me make a plan for some of the changes I can make. I believe these efforts will be easier once I understand myself well. Anthony made me think about what I want to do in the future and how I want to spend my time and efforts on campus. He also analyzed my thoughts and during our conversation, I was stimulated and guided to dig deeper.

My mentor also helped to broaden my horizons. For example, I know little about the differences between multinational companies (MNCs) and state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and the differences between US and European companies. Anthony explained which type of MNC and which type of SOE might fit me. He even analyzed how a company can fit a person at different stages of their life. I really appreciated his patient advice.

The mentoring program has not yet finished, but I have already gained something from it. If I could ever give a piece of advice to a new MBA, I would say that to understand what you really want will help you to leverage the most what a mentor can offer.