Why did you decide to become a mentor?
Since I was a teenager, I had great admiration for some of my teachers who planted seeds of excitement and passion in my heart for the subjects they taught. They showed me the true meaning of teaching: To make others wonder about the world and how it works.
I early on took a liking to following their steps. I have acted as a tutor/mentor to many in my family, especially in STEM related subjects. Every time I have explained a concept to someone, they can see the excitement and engagement on my face, and that certainly reflected on their experience.
After a while, I realized that this is what I am good at: Guiding others on their path to learning and growing. I take pleasure and honor in mentoring others. To me, it feels like passing the torch of knowledge and helping people succeed just like my teachers helped me be the successful person I am today.
How did you get your career start?
After finishing my undergraduate degree, I was determined to become a professor. I moved to Canada to pursue my Master’s degree at McGill University. My goal was to continue in academia by completing a PhD and then applying for a faculty position.
However, life had different plans for me. Due to personal reasons, and the grace of fate, I landed a software engineering job at Microsoft. What was supposed to be just a detour ended up being a 6+ years career there. My job at Microsoft taught me a lot of technical skills, but it also helped me grow into a better communicator, which is essential for a mentor.
Still, despite enjoying my work at Microsoft, I wanted be a professor. So, I decided to quit my job and go back to school to earn my PhD. I have enjoyed being exposed to and involved in cutting-edge deep learning and computer vision research. I was also blessed to be given multiple opportunities to teach classes in machine learning and data analytics.
Now that I have finished my PhD, I will be starting a clinical faculty position at Questrom School of Business at Boston University. I will be helping business students learn how to harness the power of machine learning and data analytics in their businesses and careers, a skill that is of utmost importance in our time.
What do mentees usually come to you for?
Most of my mentees come to me because they have this fear of the unknown when it comes to machine learning and AI. To them, it feels like learning this stuff might be beyond their abilities and that they will be outdated soon if they don’t take action. While I agree that ML/AI have become important skills in our lives, and that everyone needs to learn how to integrate them into their skillset, I do not think they ought to be scary subjects. Given the proper guidance that focuses on the fundamentals first, I believe everyone can get a hold of these concepts. This is similar to how people a generation ago had to learn how to integrate computers into their careers and businesses. These cycles of technological revolutions happen all the time. So, I want to assure my mentees that they can all be successful if they persevere and put the time, effort, and intention.
What’s been your favourite mentorship success story so far?
Not sure if this one counts, but my favorite experience is having been an instructor-of-record of a data-centric capstone class at Virginia Tech. I was responsible for creating a learning experience for ~20 students, some of whom had little idea what machine learning is.
It was not a light task. I wanted to make sure my class is well rounded and involved lively discussion, technical hands-on work, establishing solid fundamentals, and being exposed to cutting-edge research.
I believe this class was a success. Not only were my students up to the challenge and demonstrated high competence, but they also brought very interesting projects to class where their classmates AND I learned many new and exciting things.
For me, it is the fact that they felt comfortable becoming experts on their respective projects and able to provide feedback and hold constructive discussion on other projects that says “Mission Accomplished”. After all, I believe education is about guiding someone to be able and confident to “walk” on their own.
What are you getting out of being a mentor?
Besides putting a smile on my face and feeling accomplished every time I see one of my students/mentees rise above the challenges, it is certainly fulfilling to me to know that I have helped someone grow and succeed in life. While competition is important in life to push ourselves to be the best version we can be, I feel there is a lack in our world for a genuine sense of caring about others’ success and lifting them up. In a sense, I believe it is my job to be one of those ambassadors of unlocking the potentials in this world. It brings me a feeling like no other.
Besides that, mentoring has also helped me personally grow in knowledge and skillset. There have been many times during my mentorships I was asked questions I did not know or was presented with projects I had little experience with. These instances pushed me out of my comfort zone to learn and grow and not be content with where I am. I think the moral of the story here is that no one is permanently a mentor or a mentee. These two roles mesh together, like the yin and yang,. We all ought to be comfortable not knowing but also excited to find out!