How Kusang Found Community, Confidence, and a Path Into Finance

Kusang arrived in New York carrying the same hopes many international students bring with them: the chance to build stability, contribute to his family, and create a future larger than the circumstances he left behind. He came straight from high school and entered the CUNY system believing computer science would become that pathway.

At LaGuardia Community College, he began studying computer science while adjusting to a new country, a new city, and a new educational system. Over time, he started paying closer attention to another interest that had quietly followed him from home: finance. He had spent years watching financial videos and podcasts, reading books about money and investing, and thinking carefully about long-term security and opportunity.

Eventually, he made a difficult decision. He switched his major to accounting.

“I started thinking about supply and demand,” he said. “There are fewer active CPAs. If I can fulfill that demand, I think it gives stability.”

The decision reflected the way he viewed education itself. Kusang saw New York City as a center of finance and viewed CUNY as a system connected directly to the industries surrounding it. As an immigrant student balancing work and school, he thought constantly about return on investment: how education could translate into opportunity, financial security, and long-term mobility.

Kusang first found The City Tutors through an opportunity that immediately stood out to him: an event at Fairview Rehabilitation Center that would introduce him to a part of health care he had never seen in his new country, followed by access to a Goldman Sachs event connected to the finance career that had first captured his interest back home.

At first, he entered that world alone. He had found the opportunity himself through LinkedIn and, like many international students, was trying to figure out how people entered professional spaces in New York without an existing network around them.

At Fairview, he saw the scale of a major health care organization and met professionals working across the business, from operations to patient services. He also met learners interested in business, finance, and corporate careers, including students from Baruch College, where he hopes to continue after LaGuardia. Those conversations stayed with him as much as the exposure to a new industry. For the first time since arriving in New York, he was surrounded by other students carrying similar ambitions and trying to figure out how to turn them into pathways forward.

The next stop was Goldman Sachs.

At Goldman Sachs, Kusang remembered hearing from professionals at different levels, from associates to senior staff, then breaking into small groups where learners could speak directly with analysts. He connected with a few of them afterward. At the time, that felt like the point of networking. Later, he understood that the connection was only the beginning.

That understanding came later through mentorship.

At the beginning of 2026, while balancing full-time coursework and work responsibilities, Kusang decided he needed guidance from someone who had already navigated the kinds of transitions he was facing. As he searched through The City Tutors mentorship platform, one profile immediately stood out: Norbu, a Deloitte professional whose background felt familiar to him.

Part of the connection came from shared experience. Norbu had also come to the United States as an international student before building a professional career. For Kusang, that mattered deeply.

“We share common grounds,” he said. “I can resonate with her journey.”

The mentorship quickly became transformative.

Norbu helped him refine his résumé, strengthen his elevator pitch, and improve his public speaking. She taught him how to organize internship applications, maintain recruiter follow-ups, and build long-term professional relationships. Perhaps most importantly, she helped him push past the fear that often stops students from reaching out in the first place.

“I used to hesitate approaching people,” he explained. “I was afraid of getting rejected or ghosted.”

He began learning how consistency and follow-through create opportunities over time. He started keeping track of connections, checking in periodically, and approaching professional relationships with greater confidence and intention.

The mentorship also changed the way he viewed communication. Recently, Kusang delivered a graduation speech for a leadership program at LaGuardia Community College. After watching the recording afterward, he noticed where he rushed, where he leaned on filler words, and where a pause would have helped. The experience gave him something specific to practice as he continued building confidence as a speaker.

That kind of growth extended beyond technical skills. Seeing someone from a similar background succeed in elite academic and professional spaces helped him imagine himself there too.

For Kusang, Norbu’s guidance made the earlier events more useful in retrospect. He began to understand that meeting someone was only the first step. The real work was learning how to follow up, keep track of relationships, ask for coffee chats, and stay connected without letting fear of rejection or silence stop him.

Today, Kusang continues studying accounting at LaGuardia while preparing for the transition to a four-year college. Baruch is where he hopes to continue, and through mentorship, events, and the peers he has met along the way, he feels that he can succeed there.

When reflecting on the broader impact of the program, he spoke about students around him.

“A lot of us are first generation and come from different backgrounds,” he said. “The mentorship helps people navigate pathways and become ready for the workforce.”

For Kusang, mentorship has become part of building a life in New York: learning how to move through unfamiliar spaces, finding people who understand the journey, and discovering that professional confidence is something that can be practiced, strengthened, and shared forward.