Here at Udacity, student success is of paramount importance to us and our network of mentors helps us to achieve this objective. So here’s to the mentors who have gone the extra-mile to support Udacity students. But as our mentors say, “It’s the students who inspire them everyday,” so we’re featuring their inspirational stories as well.
The first in our series is the awesome story of Karan and Tae-Hee. While Karan is a young and passionate Udacity mentor based in India, Tae-Hee is a student living in Seoul, Republic of Korea. But the location, language and time barriers didn’t stop them. While Tae-Hee has recently graduated from Data Analyst Nanodegree program, Karan played a pivotal role in propelling this successful outcome for Tae-Hee.
Not only do our mentors help drive success for our students, there’s immense learning for them as well. “I am so glad that Udacity provided me with the opportunity to interact with students from across the globe. I have spoken to people from Europe, USA, and Korea. The experience has been thrilling. I get to know about their challenges and their ambitions. It has helped boost my confidence when interacting with students on the other side of the globe, from different ethnicities, and personal and professional backgrounds. For instance, sometimes I had to solve impromptu coding errors while on calls. I used to be nervous about it and wonder what if I am not able to solve it in front of my mentees. I got over that anxiety and started doing well in such instantaneous situations. I’ve been able to guide students in the right direction because of the acquired acumen. Gradually, I have learned to adjust accents, cross language and cultural barriers, and drive people towards successful outcomes,” said Karan.
Tae-Hee has a journalism degree and worked as a translator before enrolling in Udacity’s Data Analyst Nanodegree program. Karan was the second mentor assigned to Tae-Hee. When asked if he thinks he would have been able to graduate from his Nanodegree program without a mentor, his answer is a simple and straight, “No!”
Both Karan and Tae-Hee have helped each other acquire new skills and evolve as individuals and professionals. We would like to wish them good luck in their future endeavors.
