Learning to reach out

“Mentorship is a rewarding experience as it builds relationships across different generations. Through the eyes of my mentor Neville, a successful and experienced HKU alumnus, I am able to view the world from a completely different perspective.

Not only are his views inspiring, we did things together that were refreshing. As an engineering student, art was never part of my life. We went to watch the drama “My Fair Lady” together. Although I have never attended such a performance, I found it not just exciting but also enjoyable. The drama was great and I was able to start appreciate this form of art. With the knowledge I obtained from Neville about drama, I understood about the plays, the art of word choice, and the performance. Since then, I started to view drama online and it’s become a new form of entertainment for me.

With the sharing of my tutor, I was determined to go on overseas exchange to look into the life of people in other parts of the world. I was also encouraged to enrich myself by doing voluntary service and communicate with people around the world. Neville is caring, and he is willing to share his views and opinions with me. I was also inspired by Neville and his experiences of the actual working environment. His views and experience on work, relationships and global trends are new and different to me and it was an interesting opportunity to understand the world from a new perspective. From him, I have also learnt tricks of better communications. His advice has helped me to cope with university life and my career planning. I am grateful that I join the HKU Mentorship Programme, which gives me a new perspectives in life.” Thomas Lai.

Mentor since 2003: Mr Neville Lai
Mentee (2016-17): Thomas Lai, BEng(CE) Year 2