SINGAPORE – More than 10 years ago, then Secondary 1 student Adlynna Aziz watched in dismay as her schoolmates celebrated their good exam results.

She was the only one in her cohort to be retained in Secondary 1.

Ms Adlynna, now 24, said she struggled with her studies as she had to help her mother at her hawker stall on most days after school to make ends meet.

Bubble tea, which her friends bought every other day, was a luxury to her.

Being retained in school was a huge blow, and she felt burdened telling her mother the results.

Ms Adlynna, who has a younger brother, said: “As the elder child, there was a certain expectation for me. I was the ‘hope’ for my family to lift us out of our financial struggles.”

As she tried to pick herself up the next year, life threw her another curveball. Her best friend died suddenly, sending Ms Adlynna into a downward emotional spiral.

She said: “When she passed on, it was very difficult for me as I no longer had anyone I could go to to talk about how I felt. It was very, very painful.”

In Secondary 3, Ms Adlynna met a teacher who encouraged her to pursue what others said was a far-fetched career option for her – finance. “I didn’t know my capabilities or strengths yet, but because of her, I was able to push myself and explore what I wanted to do in the future.

“She was someone I wanted to be like when I grew up.”

Her teacher gave her advice on how to develop her passion in finance. Ms Adlynna’s performance in the national exams exceeded her own expectations, and she got into Nanyang Polytechnic.

Though she faced struggles along the way, such as not being able to afford a laptop in the first three months of school, she pushed on.

She is now a reference data analyst at US bank JP Morgan.

She had applied for an apprenticeship at the urging of her career mentor, and was hired as a full-time worker after performing well.

Grateful to the mentors who helped her realise her dreams, Ms Adlynna now guides youth as a mentor at Malay/Muslim self-help group Mendaki.

Mendaki’s Youth Mentoring Office (YMO) and Mendaki Club launched an online platform in June 2022 to connect the youth under their purview with young professionals like Ms Adlynna.

Ms Rahayu Mahzam, chairman of M3’s Focus Area 3 (FA3) which oversees mentoring programmes, told The Straits Times that YMO has trained and deployed more than 1,300 mentors, helping more than 4,250 mentees since 2019.

M3 is a tie-up among Mendaki, the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (Muis) and the People’s Association Malay Activity Executive Committees Council.

She said: “This online platform allows more youth to benefit from mentoring, be equipped with future-ready skills, and increase accessibility to a wider network of mentors and professionals.”

The platform is a more seamless way for professionals to sign up as mentors, she added.

As a mentor, Ms Adlynna hopes to inspire young people. She said: “Kids tell me they want to be an engineer or an astronaut when they grow up, but are scared they cannot achieve it because they’re not the best at a particular subject.

“To me, that’s why we go to school and learn. I want them to dream big.”