Odyssey is an annual student-led mentoring platform for professionals and students to forge connections, organised by student club, The Mentoring Circle (TMC). This year, embracing the theme Charting the Voyage, Odyssey 2024 drew together close to 800 participants, including 220 alumni and 38 C-suite speakers across various industries.
Inspired by the Club’s vision of creating an SMU where future generations are constantly better than the last, this was the sixth and largest iteration of the event.
Odyssey 2024 mapped out a collective voyage of growth and camaraderie, and the sessions reflected this. From Assigned Networking sessions to engaging Bean Bag Chats and a dynamic Mass Networking session, the night was filled with opportunities to connect, learn, and grow.
The value of mentorship
Mentorship can be tremendously helpful in paving the way for growth and success, said SMU President Professor Lily Kong in her opening address at the event.
“Having the right mentor and mindset can lead to incredible growth and success, and it is important to dream big and surround yourself with the right people,” said Prof Kong.
“Mentorship plays a significant role in an individual’s personal and professional development, especially for students. Conversely, mentors may oftentimes also get reverse-mentored by keeping up to date on the latest trends and developments in the world through the lens of our students.”
Prof Kong also acknowledged that mentoring is an important part of the culture of nurturing and sharing at SMU, and touched on how the efforts of the Office of Alumni Relations (OAR)’s Alumni Mentoring Programmes, as well as TMC’s last five editions of Odyssey, have helped to build up a strong network of alumni volunteers who willingly step up and mentor current SMU students.
Reflecting on the outstanding achievements that SMU alumni have achieved, she said, “It is this richness of experiences we have within the alumni community that we want to harness and we encourage alumni who have done well to contribute back to SMU, whether as mentors, alumni group leaders or speakers at events such as tonight’s forum. We want our students to interact with and be able to learn from their predecessors and follow in their positive footsteps.”
Learning and reverse mentoring
Following Prof Kong’s opening address, participants split into different zones for “Bean Bag Chats” or “Assigned Networking” sessions. The “Bean Bag Chats” covered topics such as Finance; Public Policy, Law, and Social Sector; Leadership and Human Resource; Operations and Sustainability and more.
Meanwhile, “Assigned Networking” participants were split into interests like Business Development and Sales; Consultancy; Public Service and Legal Sector; Sustainability and Social Sector, Human Resources and more.
Raunak Bhandari, Regional HR leader of Google, Asia Pacific, commented: “I had the privilege of being a guest speaker at…Odyssey. The energy in the room was palpable, buzzing with the excitement of students eager to learn and grow. Over 700 participants – students, alumni, and industry leaders – came together to celebrate the transformational power of mentoring at SMU and beyond.”
Mr Bhandari discussed HR and Leadership in a Bean Bag Chat, with Nadir Zafar (BBM 2004), Chief Experience Officer of the Human Capital Leadership Institute; Cindy Tan, Managing Director (Global Clients) at Meta; Betul Genc, Senior Vice President and Head of ASEAN, Adecco; and Adrian Teng, Chief Financial Officer at Seatrium.
The panel lead the discussion to cover topics such as the importance of building relationships, the importance of cultural sensitivity – especially given Singapore’s melting pot of cultures – and the need for mentors to practise active listening to understand the needs and challenges of the students they mentored more effectively.
And some mentors also walked away with some new lessons from the younger generation, just as Prof Kong noted. Dason Goh (BSc (ISM) 2008), investor and ex-CEO of Detrack Systems said, “I got to interact with so many young aspiring entrepreneurs and the exchange of ideas has led to many valuable lessons I can take away myself. It's really an honour to be part of this journey with The Mentoring Circle."
Mr Goh took part in the Chat that discussed Entrepreneurship alongside Kelvin Lam, Chief Operating Officer of YouTrip.
The energy at Odyssey was so electrifying that many sessions extended to midnight. Chen Tongshan, a third-year SMU Bachelor in Business Management student who had been on both the organising committee and as a participant, called it an eye-opening experience.
“I felt grateful to be a part of something that could benefit so many students! Through Odyssey, I learnt more than just being a leader, but also [how it helps to be] a supporter and someone who cares about the community!"
