Khalid Khan [back left] with Eden Girls School students
Khalid has mentored for Mosaic in 2014 and 2016 in the Mosaic Enterprise Challenge programme at Oaklands School, Eden Girls’ School and Bow School.
We asked him about his mentoring experiences with Mosaic.
What motivated you to want to become a mentor?
I was initially dragged by a colleague to sign up for Enterprise Challenge 2014. Subsequently I found the Business Simulation Game very interesting and got hooked.
Please tell us about a particular rewarding or special experience you have had as a mentor?
I mentored a team at Oaklands school, which reached the Regional Finals in 2014. One of the girls in team was very diffident and I had serious doubts about her ability to present the pitch. However, I was pleasantly surprised to note the hard work that she put in her part of the pitch. A few months after the Enterprise Challenge, I approached the school to run “Maths is Fun” club. I was surprised to be informed by the teacher that that same girl had metamorphosed into a confident person.
I had assumed that the Enterprise Challenge was a short-term project with limited benefit, and didn’t realise that only a month of mentoring could make such a big difference to the mentees.
What have you learned from your time as a mentor?
Personally speaking, interacting with school kids helps me get perspective on how these new-generation children behave, which in turn enables me to understand my own kids better. I never considered trying to teach my own children how to be confident, but now I think I should! I am inclined to believe that I have become a slightly more lenient and easy-going dad after my mentoring experience.
What have you found challenging about mentoring?
On couple of instances, I have been stuck with teams lacking motivation or consisting of students with varying abilities/aptitude. Trying to be fair to all, raising the whole team to the same level and working on weak links can make the mentoring bit challenging.
And what do you do when you’re not volunteering?
Besides my full-time work, I love teaching mathematics and solving problems.
Would you recommend being a Mosaic mentor to others?
Most definitely, but I feel that the mentors need to understand/crack the Business Simulation Game and be able to commit enough time for regional/national finals preparation to make any impact on mentees.
What makes a good mentor?
To be a good mentor requires commitment and lot of background preparation. Unless the mentor puts extra hours preparing in advance for the mentoring session, results will not be up to the mark. Without forethought and preparation, benefits of mentoring will be limited.
How do you feel about receiving the Hero of the Month Award?
I am honoured.
If there was only one piece of advice you could give to a young person to achieve success, what would that be?
Drive to compete and outshine others is imperative, without which success can’t be achieved. Success then feeds itself to create the virtuous cycle of extra effort and more success.
Giving young people the chance to shine through leadership and enterprise is vital. For young people growing up in some of our most deprived communities, Mosaic’s work does just that. Your work helps to build binds between different communities and I wish you every success....