Victor Meyerfreund

March 2025 Newsletter

Q: How did you first hear about RTE and decide to get involved?

A: The first time I heard about RTE was in the Paly back-to-school packet. I got interested because I was already a mentor at Paly for a class called AAR (Advanced Authentic Research). I was there for two years as a mentor, and it was a very good experience so when I heard about RTE needing mentors, I became interested.

Q: How many students do you mentor and how often do you speak with them?

A: I mentor eight students who are all from the Class of 2024. I generally speak to them three times in a semester: one time before beginning classes, again in the middle of classes, let's say one month after classes start, and then after the end of the semester. This is a rough average, but there are some students who I speak to more. I'll always encourage them to come back to me when they have something they want to discuss. 

Q: How would you describe your mentees?

A: These kids are bright, this is also why I got interested in mentoring with RTE, they're amazing. I think every mentee has something that they're very good at. The other thing is that they can learn from me, but I also learn a lot from them in terms of their experiences. They make me reflect a lot on my own life.

Q: What sorts of challenges do your mentees face, and how do you help them?

A: One of the most common challenges moving from high school to college is that you have less time in class, but then you have to study a lot outside of class because you have to prepare projects, etc. There is a lot of work after class, and I think this is an issue that I try to warn them about because I also faced that same issue when I was in college. It is a big shift, and some students have a harder time adapting to it.

My advice to them is to keep on top of things, for example, after every class, review the material. If you are not tracking what's being said in class because you haven't prepared, then you get off track, and that's difficult to recover from. I think time management with classes and projects, and jobs is also super important. If you manage your time well, you’ll stay on the right track. And the other thing, of course, is managing finances. Because these students come from low-income backgrounds, it's super important for them to know how to manage their finances.

Q: What are the most important skills to have as a mentor?

A: One thing that I believe I'm good at is that I can put myself in the shoes of other people, so I relate a lot to them in terms of thinking about what happened to me when I was a college student or when I was starting my career. So empathy is one of the main skills to have, you must understand what's happening to your mentees and try to put yourself in their shoes. The other thing is that I have a diverse set of interests so when I’m talking to my mentees about possibilities with their future career paths, I understand a bit about what they are talking about, regardless of what interest they are pursuing, whether it’s engineering or criminology or whatever.

Q: How do you and the other mentors interact and support each other? 

A: RTE provides guidance on topics to discuss with my mentees and takes care of some of the logistics like uploading transcripts and analyzing transcripts to recognize when mentees are taking too many classes, etc., so they provide a framework. With the other mentors, we discuss mentorship topics amongst ourselves. I met with five other mentors recently, and we discussed some cases. Other mentors come from different backgrounds, so they show me different perspectives. I will not have the answer every time. Sometimes I have to reflect on a situation, and having the help of the other mentors is good because they bring a different approach.

Q: What do you get out of mentoring?

A: Mentoring brings me a sense of fulfillment and allows me the opportunity to give back. I feel good helping my mentees because sometimes they would be inclined to give up on college, but providing guidance and support allows them to keep going. Being a mentor really feels like you are making a difference in the lives of other people. I think that's my biggest achievement. Another thing is that mentoring allows me to better relate to my own kids, as my daughter just went to college, and my son is a senior in high school. The funny thing is, I think that my mentees take what I say much more seriously than my own kids!

Q: What advice would you give to others who are considering becoming an RTE mentor?

A: I would say it's a rewarding experience and I would tell them that this experience is not only that you are giving, you are receiving a lot as well from the mentees. Another positive thing is the interaction with RTE's board and mentors, they provide a lot of insights to me. 

Q: Tell us a little bit about your life.

A: I define myself as a logical, organized, gentle person. I don't track astrology, but my sign - Virgo - has a lot in common with my character. While I was living in São Paulo, the largest city in Brazil and a very chaotic place by any standards, I was spending lots of time in traffic. Everything was complicated. I felt that I was missing something important, and I also saw that that lifestyle was a burden on my kids. So my wife and I started researching for a new place to live. We came to the idea  of moving  to Palo Alto because she was here often for work and loved it. We came here five years ago, and both my kids did their entire high school at Paly.

Aside from that, I am an engineer by training and worked for 14 years at my family's chocolate company until we sold it. Then, I set up a machinery trading company, which I resigned from  before moving to the US. Now, I focus solely on the financial management of the family portfolio. I am happy to say that my routine today is way calmer than during my time in Brazil.