Mentorship, Mastered

Along your journey at Rollins, you’ll encounter a community of mentors— ranging from faculty and staff to fellow students and alumni—who will help guide you along your path and present new avenues to realize your purpose. That is by design. According to Gallup research, graduates who had a professor who cared about them as a person, made them more excited about learning, and encouraged their dreams were twice as likely to thrive in their lives and careers.

Take Francisco Wang ’22, for example. The international business major first met marketing professor Raghabendra KC ’13 during a class his senior year. KC was sharing his research, and Wang wanted to do his senior thesis on a similar topic, so he reached out to ask if he’d work with him. That one encounter radically changed Wang’s trajectory.

“At the start of my senior year, I planned on applying to jobs, not grad school,” says Wang. “I certainly didn’t think I’d be here at Cambridge University, but KC made me passionate about research and said I should consider Cambridge, where he completed his master’s and PhD. I’m actually working with his former PhD supervisor on pricing and topics that KC worked on during grad school, and we still talk regularly about our lives and our research.”

Francisco Wang ’22

MPhil Candidate, Cambridge University

Major: International business

Rollins Results

Explore how mentorship served as the catalyst for these Rollins grads’ success on the world stage.

“If I did not take [music professor] John Sinclair’s class, Basic Conducting, during my first semester at Rollins, I would not be who I am today. When facing challenges in my career, I always go back to one of the times he encouraged me, which helps me to keep trying with the talent he pulled out of me.”

Ryo Hasegawa ’19

Assistant Conductor, Baltimore Symphony Youth Orchestra, Peabody Symphony/Concert Orchestra, and Peabody Youth Orchestra

Major: Music

“[Business professor] Richard Lewin was instrumental in leading me to my current position. Not only did he teach me so much during an independent study about technical analysis—which is what I do now—but he spent weeks preparing me for my interview with Citi to make sure I was prepared for any question they might ask.”

Abdiel Martinez ’22

FXTechnicals Analyst, Citi

Major: International business

“I met Luke Brown ’05MBA through Rollins’ Women in Finance program, and after we talked about my career goals for a while, he suggested I apply to his company. He even put in a good word with my current supervisor, which encouraged her to interview me and helped me land the job.”

Izadora Correa Bongiolo ’22

Market Data Specialist, Intercontinental Exchange

Major: Economics

Find Your Gateway Scan or head to rollins.college/gateway to start envisioning what your pathway to purpose will look like.