Introduction to Mentor Coaching Work
In May 2026, the mentor coaching round (unified written review) of the "China-Latin America Youth Tackling Global Challenges – 2026 Poverty Alleviation Challenge", organized by the Latin American Center of Tsinghua University, was successfully launched. Over 100 cross-border competing teams from China, Brazil, Chile, Peru and other countries teamed up with 120 professional Chinese and Latin American mentors to conduct project research on cutting-edge themes including digital education, circular economy and inclusive development. The smooth delivery of this coaching session was fully backed by a dedicated project assistant service team composed of students from diverse universities and grades.
Project Assistant Work Summary for Mentor Coaching Programme
Serving as critical links bridging mentors and participating teams across differing time zones, all project assistants were engaged in mentor matching, meeting scheduling, cross-time zone coordination, data compilation, meeting minute review and other core tasks. Spanning 17 working days, the seven project assistants received 646 emails, dispatched 898 emails, exchanged 4,292 WeChat messages, arranged 169 coaching sessions and 93 written coaching consultations, securing 260 valid coaching reservations in total. Leveraging emails, WeChat, offline meetings and written documents, the team delivered full-spectrum support and resolved unexpected issues such as abnormal reservations and lost team contacts. Constrained by an average 12-hour time difference and multilingual cross-cultural communication barriers between China and Latin American nations, team members frequently processed emails late at night or in the wee hours and coordinated meetings deep into the night. Working meticulously and patiently to align demands from all parties, these behind-the-scenes contributors guaranteed the orderly progress of cross-border mentoring while gaining practical experience and personal growth along the way.
Team Reflections
Chen Shuyang | Master’s Year 2, Design, Novosibirsk State University of Architecture and Art
My internship at the Latin American Center has been fulfilling and rewarding. Day-to-day detailed administrative work has brought me abundant gains.
I was the designated contact for fifteen domestic and overseas teams, responsible for meeting arrangement, ongoing communication, follow-up supervision and meeting minute collation. The most distinctive experience was coping with time zone gaps: regular evening and midnight work gradually helped me adapt to Latin American time schedules, evolving from initial fluster to proficient handling of tasks.
Detail orientation is paramount for international work, which has cultivated my prudence and composure and taught me that flawless project delivery hinges on refining trivial tasks. Through exchanges with mentors and participants worldwide, I have witnessed mutual respect amid disparate regional cultures and formed a tangible understanding of international collaboration. Supported by a warm team and regular guidance from senior colleagues, my capabilities in communication, problem-solving and overall coordination have improved remarkably.
This precious internship experience will inspire me to stay grounded, keep learning and pursue continuous self-improvement.
Project Assistant Chen Shuyang
Wen Xiaochu | Master’s Year 2, Urban and Rural Planning, School of Architecture, Tsinghua University
My internship at the Latin American Center of Tsinghua University has been extremely enriching. Most valuably, I have built friendships with outstanding peers, from whom I identify my own shortcomings: their poise under pressure, meticulous work ethic and perseverance amid long-term commitments. It has been a joy collaborating alongside these partners.
Additionally, I have gained profound insights into prudence and impartiality required for transnational work. Serving teams from Brazil, Chile and Peru, I realized every minor detail can bear divergent interpretations across cultures. I have learned to communicate thoughtfully and equitably to ensure every competing team feels valued and respected. This journey has accelerated my personal growth.
Project Assistant Wen Xiaochu
Pan Yue | Freshman, Finance, Renmin University of China
Though this internship has concluded, the insights I gained will stay with me permanently. Beyond improved professional competence, I have mastered schedule management and emergency response skills. At the very beginning, heavy workloads and sudden disruptions left me overwhelmed with anxiety. Yet these setbacks tempered my composure and helped me adapt to fast-paced workflows. I am deeply grateful for this developmental platform and teammates who support and progress alongside one another. Adhering to the mindset of "I may not seek credit for success, yet I stand ready to contribute to every achievement", I take pride in being part of a team whose collective wisdom and hard work underpinned successful task completion. I will always cherish this valuable experience and look forward to future opportunities.
Project Assistant Pan Yue
Ma Linrui | Freshman, Economic Statistics, North University of China
This event coordination practice has yielded substantial personal progress. Full-cycle liaison with competing teams, overseas mentor coordination and event administration have greatly sharpened my communication, coordination and emergency management skills. Regular contact with international partners also boosted my practical English, moving beyond rigid textbook phrasing. For instance, native speakers rarely use literal expressions like "I go to bed", preferring informal phrases such as "I must hit the hay"; the idiom "I was falling asleep over my soup" vividly describes being exhausted and drowsy. These authentic colloquialisms embody the essence of combining book knowledge with real-world experience.
With multiple concurrent assignments and unforeseen contingencies commonplace, I have learned to design refined work plans, track implementation and close every task loop. I now stay calm amid unexpected changes, abandon sunk-cost fixation and prioritize pragmatic solutions to safeguard project progress.
The placement familiarized me with core workplace logic, project implementation protocols and formal reporting standards. My diligent, responsible teammates set positive examples that motivate continuous self-improvement. While I made minor operational mistakes early on, timely peer corrections prevented setbacks to overall event execution; these errors became priceless learning opportunities that fostered rigorous working habits and regular post-task review to benefit my future studies and careers.
I often skipped meals and pulled all-nighters replying to cross-border emails during preparation. Nevertheless, late-night rest reminders from international collaborators instantly eased fatigue, and their later message acknowledging me as an honorary team member made all hardships worthwhile.
Filled with busy days, occasional missteps and heartfelt warmth, this internship is more than vocational training but a journey of self-development. I will carry forward acquired experience and forge ahead steadily.
Project Assistant Ma Linrui
Li Wentao | Junior, Chinese Language and Literature, Yang'en University
Over 12 days, I served as project assistant in charge of nine Chinese and international teams. Despite varied cultural backgrounds and communication norms, every team leader engaged with me enthusiastically. The 12-hour China-Latin America time difference forced frequent midnight email replies and late-night WeChat correspondence. From mentor matching and meeting booking to cross-time zone coordination and data tallying, every procedure demanded patience and carefulness. This experience broadened my horizons and taught me to seek common ground amid cultural disparities.
I feel fortunate to collaborate with dedicated mentors, team representatives and teammates. Thanks to mentors’ generous support, active cooperation from all team captains and timely peer assistance amid hurdles, this challenging journey turned warm and rewarding.
I treasure this internship, which has enabled me to mature amid heavy workload and pressure.
Project Assistant Li Wentao
Jiang Qi | Freshman, Financial Management, School of Economics and Management, North University of China
It is my great honor to participate in the 2026 Poverty Alleviation Challenge hosted by Tsinghua University’s Latin American Center. Smooth event delivery owes much to the careful guidance and overall planning of Supervisor Wei Bikang and the international exchange platform built by the Latin American Center. Guided by the team’s thorough arrangement, I provided frontline services to facilitate joint research on poverty alleviation topics and experience-sharing between Chinese and Latin American young scholars.
My core role covered end-to-end support for 14 domestic and overseas teams, including daily inquiry reception, document liaison and issue coordination. Throughout the work cycle, I received 87 formal emails, sent out 146 official replies and exchanged over 600 instant online messages. When facing ambiguous requirements or cross-border coordination deadlocks, I responded flexibly and provided one-on-one follow-up for teams troubled by registration obstacles and project polishing challenges, resolving 59 practical difficulties for six teams to solidify pre-event preparation.
Vast geographic separation and drastic time gaps posed inherent cross-border liaison obstacles. Following the team’s optimized schedule and service criteria, I adjusted my personal routine voluntarily, often working until 3 a.m. to answer inquiries, synchronize event updates and clarify procedural confusion for aligned progress between China and Latin America. Though exhausting, late-night shifts helped build affectionate bonds connecting young people across continents.
No individual can accomplish great feats alone. All seamless operations stemmed from united teamwork under Supervisor Wei Bikang’s strategic layout. Team members divided work rationally, complemented each other’s strengths, brainstormed solutions for tough problems and shared workload during peak periods, forging sincere friendship through joint efforts.
By handling trivial daily tasks, I honed administrative capabilities and expanded global vision through international exchanges. This placement has fully upgraded my skills in overall planning, cross-cultural communication and emergency disposal. Moving forward, I will preserve enthusiasm and accumulated experience, follow professional guidance and devote myself to youth-oriented international exchange services with a pragmatic mindset for continuous advancement.
Project Assistant Jiang Qi
Zheng Yue | Sophomore, Logistics Management, Fuzhou University
I am privileged to work as a project assistant for Tsinghua University’s Poverty Alleviation Challenge. More than ten days of practical coordination and liaison work have comprehensively enhanced my professional capabilities. The team’s rigorous work culture and supportive collaborative environment brought immense benefits to my development. With detailed mentorship from seniors and mutual aid from teammates, I rapidly adapted to responsibilities and mastered practical skills in work planning, efficient liaison and risk control via daily post-work reviews, greatly advancing my communication, execution and crisis management abilities. This valuable practice deepened my understanding of global poverty reduction and international youth exchange, broadening my worldview through cross-border project administration. In future studies and practice, I will uphold diligence and teamwork to keep improving myself step by step.
Project Assistant Zheng Yue
Closing Remarks from Wei Bikang | Program Supervisor & Professional Mentor, Latin American Center, Tsinghua University: All Late Nights We Pulled Together Have Turned Into Brightness
I acted as the core coordinator for the mentor coaching phase of the 2026 Poverty Alleviation Challenge.
Looking back at chat logs still amazes me: I was tagged 1,488 times across two weeks; the whole team received 646 emails, dispatched 898 emails and exchanged 4,292 WeChat messages, successfully arranging 169 online coaching sessions and 93 written coaching consultations amid the 12-hour China-Latin America time difference. Many ask whether I felt worn out – absolutely yes. I averaged merely five hours of sleep daily and nearly collapsed at my desk one Thursday, even speaking harshly in group chats out of urgency. Yet fond memories fill my mind in retrospect.
I recall Ma Linrui initially underestimating workload and lagging in responses, vowing to catch up with the team. Later a foreign team told her she was part of their core crew, and I shared her joy when she shared the news. Born in 2006, Zheng Yue and Jiang Qi surprised me by enduring back-to-back overtime: one flawlessly managed 14 teams, the other stayed up till 3 a.m. answering overseas emails and spoke earnestly about putting collective interests first.
Pan Yue single-handedly coordinated over 20 competing teams; Li Wentao overcame initial hesitation with complex assignments to competently administer nine teams’ reservation and coordination tasks. Wen Xiaochu pulled an all-nighter with me sorting through 21 emails to defuse tense communication conflicts, drawing a playful jab from Professor Shao about our sleepless schedule. While preparing for her thesis defense in Russia, Chen Shuyang maintained flawless oversight over more than a dozen teams, stating she would not slack off as everyone else strove relentlessly.
Truthfully, it was never just me leading you – your dedication pushed me forward. I once promised to take accountability for major mistakes while correcting minor ones, yet your proactive problem-solving meant I never had to step in for critical damage control; every unexpected hurdle became a victory we conquered side by side.
With this phase completed successfully, the program always welcomes your return. Every late shift, revised email and resolved emergency has not been in vain. Your newly acquired cross-time zone communication proficiency and multi-tasking composure will become irreplaceable assets for your future journeys.
May our paths cross again at greater heights.
Project Manager Wei Bikang
Epilogue
The mentor coaching segment of the 2026 Poverty Alleviation Challenge has come to a successful end. Working around the clock, dedicated project assistants built solid dialogue bridges between Chinese and Latin American youth via countless emails and late-night online communications amid intensive cross-border cooperation. Practicing the philosophy of global partnership, the event highlights the value of advancing international youth exchanges and joint poverty reduction initiatives. Moving ahead, China and Latin America will deepen multi-field collaborative development, and event organizers will keep functioning as an exchange bridge to cultivate more cross-culturally competent young talents. Future youth cooperation on poverty alleviation and sustainable development will further mature, empowering young participants to sharpen skills and broaden horizons while showcasing contemporary Chinese youth’s sense of responsibility and outstanding spirit through concrete actions.
