Curious Cardinals Mentor

Megan Z.

she/her • majoring in Business Administration • class of 2024

PRO TIP:

When evaluating whether a mentor would be a good match for your student keep in mind that the greatest leading indicator of success is how well a mentor and their mentee get along.

Questions to ask yourself:

Would the student find this person inspiring?
Do they share any interests, hobbies, or lived experiences?

EDUCATION

2020 - 2024 • University of Southern California • Los Angeles, California

2016 - 2020 • Northview High School • Johns Creek, Georgia

I’ve been a Curious Cardinals mentor since December 2022. I am passionate about mentoring students in the areas of Entrepreneurship, Geometry, Negotiation, Pre-Algebra, Calculus, K-6 Grade Math, Essay Writing, Grammar & Spelling, Communication & Leadership, Algebra II, Precalculus & Trigonometry, Algebra I, Video Production, Creative Writing & Poetry, and Drawing & Painting.

Megan Z. (IN A NUTSHELL)

Megan is pursuing a major in Business Administration with an emphasis in Technology Entrepreneurship, while exploring her creativity through social media, poetry, and music creation.

She grew up in a prominent Asian community, excelled in all math subjects within an academically rigorous high school while navigating the exploration of her personal purpose. She also did visual arts throughout her entire childhood.

Megan greatly values her relationships with people and understanding social dynamics. She has had extensive leadership experience throughout her organizations in high school and college, including but not limited to starting an education-based nonprofit, two Chinese-culture organizations, dance teams, volunteer programs, and a business organization, and hopes to take these leadership skills into her future career.

Watch Megan Z. break down a subject they’re passionate about.

WHY THIS MATTERS:

Our mentorship sessions happen virtually over Zoom. It’s important to get a sense of how someone’s personality can come through on a video call. The best way to ensure your student is excited about learning is to have someone on the other side that they look forward to talking to.

GREATEST ACHIEVEMENT (SO FAR)

Over the summer, for my internship, my project was to improve a process in my workplace. This internship was operations based, so my manager's expectation was that I find an operations inefficiency to break down. However, as I have always been interested in culture and leadership, I identified the management culture to be a big disconnect.

Making my project about a culture that upper management directly perpetuated was scary, as I had to have a lot of really loaded and precarious conversations with people who had control over my experience at the company. However, it resulted in my creation of a very thorough and passionate project that my entire team supported, as well as actionable change. It did cause anger in a couple members of management, but I am proud of myself for being brave and true to myself to create something disruptive and impactful.

MY TOP 3

FAVORITE ARTIST

DPR IAN

FAVORITE BOOK

The 48 Laws of Power

FAVORITE GAME

Settlers of Catan

What is one thing you hope to accomplish in your lifetime?

What is a passion project you’re working on or have created in the past?

How does your heritage or identity impact your teaching style?

What advice would you give your middle or high school self?

CAUSES I SUPPORT

World Resources Institute

Sustainability is one of the future's most critical issues; must be prioritized.