Welcome Letter from Founders

Every time we socialize with other Chinese who have settled in the United States and been successful here, one topic that always comes up is the importance of education. In recent years, more and more Chinese students have come to the United States seeking a high school or college education. Through various channels, parents have reached out to us and hoped that we may be of some assistance to their children. All Chinese in the United States have gone through this process of getting settled and finding our way around a new culture and we have all received assistance from the local Chinese community when we needed it. We promised to return this kindness someday if we were able to do so. That said, we believe that the students who have come to the States recently need more support than is available from those informal networks. Many current students underestimate the hardships and effort necessary to succeed in a new culture and we felt that a more organized network of assistance would be beneficial to them. Except for earning a US degree or a diploma, we fear that many of these new students are not effectively prepared to enter, and succeed in, American society. As well as sound academic credentials, success in a foreign culture requires the development of social, cultural and professional skills. Compared to China, life in the US is a much different game, and people who live here are judged primarily on their individual merits and abilities, rather than by family relationships. Relationship, networking, and referring all matter, but no one will run the risk of losing credibility to refer an unqualified person to a job opportunity. Students themselves need to be ready to benefit from the network of successful Chinese community and beyond. That is to say, rather than "giving fish", we believe we should empower the students by coaching them on "how to fish" and mentoring them to be mentally and psychologically ready for their future.

As we began thinking about how to help Chinese students succeed academically and professionally in the United States, we consulted with a number of respected scholars and school principals and visited some thirty tertiary educational institutions. We spoke with Chinese students, American faculty, admissions and student service professionals. It became clear that there seemed to be two different cultural norms at work in the American educational system regarding foreign students. One is that American teachers and educational administrators expect Chinese students to fit in and behave in the same way that American students do. Of course, they will make some allowances for an adjustment period, but they do expect the Chinese students to become comfortable in American culture. Although American staff are ready to help in this adjustment, the amount they can do is limited by the number of support staff available, language and culture barriers and the fact that support systems in the US are generally reactive - that is, a student must come forward and ask for help. American universities also assume that Chinese graduates will return to China to work and therefore provide limited support to them in terms of career preparation. The second issue is that of the Chinese students themselves. Often they feel that the American system should reach out to them. When it does not, Chinese students turn to their countrymen for help, and eventually become encapsulated in the "small Chinese circle". Without the appropriate support that addresses their unique needs, they are not able to take full advantage of their experiences in the US. Although most Chinese students will graduate with a degree or diploma, when it comes time to interview for positions (and gain valuable work experience that will help them compete in the global economy), they feel less confident and have few relevant working experiences to emphasize to recruiters. Considering these two different sets of norms - American and Chinese - we see many students who get lost in a cycle of dependency on other Chinese and who do not know how to take full advantage of their experience in American society.

To address these issues, a group of elite educational professionals, both American and Chinese, joined forces to develop a system that enables students to make the most of their time on US campuses. After three years of intensive research and development, the Success Mentor System was born. The system addresses the gap between academic graduation requirements and what employers really want and targets the unique needs of international students. The Success Mentor System provides practical learning and working skills for Chinese students on US campus and is based upon extensive feedback from students and a thorough analysis of the root causes of the major challenges facing international students in the US. This initiative has attracted the attention of the local Chinese community in the United States and many successful Chinese, residing in US, have told us how valuable such a system will be in helping students succeed and prosper.

Many Chinese students are unhappy with their current situation and lose sight of the big picture and the unbelievable opportunities that lie in their future if only they are prepared. The growth of the Chinese domestic economy, the advent of the G2 era (US and China), the evolving immigration reform in the US and the Chinese national strategy for Chinese businesses to enter the US market has opened many opportunities for young Chinese. These are opportunities that we, when we were these students' age, would not even dared to dream. At the end of the day, students must ask themselves, "Am I prepared in the right way? and Am I ready for my own future?" It is our desire that, through the Success Mentor System, these students will be well prepared to seize their opportunities and take their place on the world stage.