Ms. Yana Fomenko is currently a year-2 student taking Hotel Management. Her proposer, Ms. Winnie Siu, Front Office Manager of Marco Polo Hotels Hong Kong  complimented that:

“It is with great pleasure that I write this to nominate Miss Yana Fomenko for the Outstanding SHTM Mentee Award 2022.  I believe that Yana is the best choice for the award because, in my opinion, she exemplifies what a mentee should be:  a self-motivated individual who is fully committed to personal and professional growth. As a mentor, I have been following her development for one year. During that time, she has consistently demonstrated a full commitment to this programme.
Two years ago, Yana decided to seek a career change from modelling to the hospitality industry. When she entered the Mentorship Programme, she was been able to identify the skills, knowledge and goals that she wanted to achieve and communicated them to me during our meetings.

She has committed to meeting with me on a regular basis. The first meetings were done on Zoom due to the Covid situation. Later we were able to meet face to face. These meetings also included more informal settings such as a dinner at a restaurant or after a yoga class we took together. These meeting allowed me to learn more about her as a person. She impressed me with traits like humility, passion, honesty, and resilience.  During our numerous conversations, she has shown herself to be an international-minded person with a positive outlook and attitude who is eager and open to learn proactively. This was particularly apparent when I gave her a tour of my hotel. Yana had expressed a strong desire to learn Front Office operation.  She asked many pertinent and sensible questions that showed her interest and eagerness to learn. She was not only curious about front-of-house procedures, but also back-of-house details. This demonstrates that Yana is proactive in requesting feedback and ready to take onboard the advice given.

Yana demonstrated her ability to plan her development. She worked with me to seek resources for learning by identifying people and information that might be helpful. An example of this is when she had decided to apply for a Front Office Internship.  It must be said that it was not an easy feat to secure several interviews in the current competitive environment in. She reached out to me for advice to prepare for the interviews she had lined up. When we practiced together for the interviews with role-plays and Q&A sessions, she showed that she feels comfortable receiving objective and constructive feedback. 

Whenever she asked for advice or help, she has shown herself to be patient, responsive and respectful of my role and time.
I strongly endorse Yana’s nomination for the Outstanding SHTM Mentee Award 2022 and believe that her ability to take full advantage of opportunities to learn as well as her willingness to be stretched out of her comfort zone make her the best candidate for the award ... “