‘How Wisdom Gets Passed On’

When Sonia Broni signed up for mentorship through the Tufts Africana Center, she wasn’t sure what to expect. A data science major at the time, she had imagined a mentor whose résumé mirrored the one she wanted to build for herself—a software engineer, perhaps, or a data analyst.

Instead, she found herself matched with a professional coach and leadership consultant. 

“I checked her LinkedIn and thought, ‘Wait—she’s a speaker and coach, and I’m studying data science. How are we a match?’” says Broni, A27. But after their first virtual meeting, any doubts disappeared. Casey Carpenter—“Coach Casey,” as Broni now affectionately calls her—quickly became a guiding presence in her academic (and personal) life.

Over time, their conversations helped Broni think more broadly about her strengths and long-term goals. Not long after, she decided to change her major from data science to economics, a shift she describes as finding a better fit for the kind of analytical and people-centered work that inspires her most.

“Coach Casey helped me see more clearly the life to which I aspire,” says Broni. “And she modeled for me the type of leader I want to be: a speaker, a writer, someone who empowers others. She showed me the power of storytelling and the importance of knowing what I have to offer.”

The way Carpenter, J80, sees it, their connection helped Broni realize that, in addition to her technical abilities, Broni has natural people skills that employers would value tremendously. “I wanted to help her see that she could bring facets of her personality into her career plans and that way, enjoy even more workplace success,” says Carpenter.

Throughout Broni’s sophomore year, the two women met regularly, sometimes discussing coursework and career paths and other times talking through life challenges and leadership dilemmas. Even after the formal mentorship program ended, their conversations continued. “She told me she’d be in my life for as long as I allowed it,” Broni recalled. “That’s something I’ll never forget.” Broni still reaches out to her for guidance today. 

“I can’t wait to see what she’s doing when she’s 30!” Carpenter says.

Meeting People Where They Are

Carpenter sees mentorship as a personal and civic responsibility. Having grown up in a household where community engagement and service were part of everyday life, “lifting others up was always just expected,” she says. Her father was a math professor and a guidance counselor and both of her parents were deeply involved in the community; in the 1970s, they co-founded Harlem Prep, the nation’s first alternative school. “The instinct to meet people where they are and help them see what’s possible runs deep,” says Carpenter.

Perhaps that’s why mentorship became the foundation of her professional life. As an executive coach and leadership development consultant, Carpenter helps clients identify their strengths and step into their potential, a process that she says mirrors what she does as a mentor. “Whether it’s in a professional context, an educational one, or a personal one, helping someone grow is the same thing,” says Carpenter. “No matter where I do it, I do it because I feel a responsibility to do it.” 

She considers mentoring Tufts students to be a natural extension of her coaching practice, grounded in the same values of curiosity, empathy, and joy in learning. In both settings, she takes a light-handed, student-centered approach: “I let them lead. My first question is always, ‘Where can I support you?’ rather than coming in with a rigid agenda.”

That approach resonates with Broni, who finds herself learning as much from Carpenter’s example as from her advice. “She’s such a natural storyteller,” Broni says. “The way she communicates makes you want to listen and learn.”

The relationship has been mutually enriching, Carpenter says, one that reaffirms her belief in the power of mentorship. “I’ve learned as much from Sonia as I hope she has from me,” she says. “She’s exceptional—curious, driven, full of heart. Watching her grow reminds me why mentorship matters.”

Paying It Forward

Carpenter and Broni’s story is one of many taking shape through The Herd, a digital networking and mentoring platform offered through the Tufts Career Center, connecting alumni and students across disciplines and generations.

Participants can search for mentors or mentees based on interests and professional backgrounds, and alumni may choose how and when to offer support, whether it’s through an email exchange, a phone conversation, or a job-shadow opportunity. The platform also offers guides and resources to help both mentors and mentees build effective, lasting relationships.

That model of flexibility and mutual engagement has made The Herd a thriving community for students and alumni alike. Kevin Ngan, A16, is a biologist and researcher who has mentored four students through the platform. Ngan says what keeps him participating is the sense of shared growth it fosters. “It’s about giving back to the community that shaped you and realizing how much you still have to learn,” he says.

The impulse to mentor stems from Ngan’s own undergraduate experience. A first-generation college student, he participated in Tufts’ STEM diversity programs and credits a supportive dean with encouraging him to pursue a Ph.D. “If I hadn’t had that guidance, I wouldn’t be where I am today,” he says. “So now I try to pay it forward.”

He adds that conversations he has with students often reach beyond résumés or career plans; they touch on the personal side of growth. “Students come in with all kinds of questions, including ones about careers, grad school, or just life,” he says. “When I share my own path, the missteps as well as the successes, I hope it reminds them that figuring things out takes time.”

Sandra Le (shown at right) says the personal approach to mentorship of biologist and researcher Kevin Ngan changed the course of her future. “I don’t think I’d be where I am today if it weren’t for [Kevin],” says Le.

Sandra Le, A24, says Ngan’s personal approach to mentorship changed the course of her future. “I don’t think I’d be where I am today if it weren’t for him,” says Le. 

A biochemistry major—and, like Ngan, a first-generation college student—Le met him through a pilot mentoring program run by Tufts’ FIRST Resource Center, the Career Center, and the Office of Alumni Engagement, as she was trying to decide what would come after graduation. “I really had no idea what I wanted to do,” she recalls. “Kevin helped me slow down and think about who I am—what excites me, what motivates me—and not just what I thought I should do.”

Through their conversations, Le began to see a path forward. Ngan encouraged her to think about research as more than an undergraduate experience; now, she’s completing a two-year pre-Ph.D. program focused on translational diabetes research. “I didn’t even know that doing a Ph.D. was something available to someone like me,” she says. “Kevin made it feel possible.”

Ngan believes that watching mentees like Le pursue advanced research reaffirms the enduring value of mentorship. “Each conversation feels like a way of continuing the support that shaped my own path,” he says. “It’s a chance to do for someone else what others once did for me.”

Mentorship as Mutual Growth

For both Ngan and Carpenter, mentorship isn’t a one-way exchange. The conversations they have with students remind them how dynamic and forward-looking the next generation is. “Students are studying things we didn’t even have when I was in school,” Ngan says. “They’re so visionary. It keeps me on my toes.”

Carpenter feels the same way. Her mentees, she says, continually broaden her perspective on leadership and learning, reminding her how much there is still to explore. “They’re thinking about sustainability, ethics, global impact—such important topics that their generation is so aware of. They already are leaders, and I get to learn from them, too,” she says.

That exchange of ideas—by which mentors learn as much as they teach—is something Le came to understand early on. During her senior year, while mentoring first-year students through the FIRST Resource Center, she found herself modeling Ngan’s example in real time. “Kevin taught me that mentorship isn’t about constant check-ins,” she says. “It’s about listening, offering perspective, and trusting that growth happens on both sides.”

Broni has discovered the same reciprocity in her own experience. In her role as part of the leadership of the faith-based campus organization Daily Flame, for example, she often thinks back to what Carpenter modeled for her: “grace, passion, and consistency,” she says.

“Mentorship is the incubator for authentic leadership,” says Broni. “It’s how wisdom gets passed on, how each generation of leaders becomes empowered and then learns to empower the next.”