It has been nearly two months, a wonderful two months, as a ScholarX mentee. To be honest, I never thought how much of an impact can a mentor have in one’s life. ScholarX made me realize that it’s always better to have guidance and wise advice than keeping my life’s decision to myself.
Let me tell you what ScholarX is all about!
It is an exclusive 6-month mentoring program aimed at providing mentoring support to undergraduates in Sri Lanka by a Sri Lankan expert from a world’s top university or a Fortune 500 company. I’m quoting their website here. And, the best thing is … it is totally free. Just imagine how wonderful it is to have such a premium mentoring at no cost and the benefit it can do an undergraduate, who is starting small but with big dreams. I’m extremely thankful to Sustainable Education Foundation and the ScholarX team for getting together and organizing something truly remarkable as this, to create a better future for Sri Lankan students.
Let me tell you how it works!
If you want to have a ScholarX mentorship, the first thing you need to do is applying as a mentee. To keep track of the schedule of the program and to know when you can apply, you can follow their LinkedIn. Usually, the applications are opened in January or February for the summer program.
The application process is somewhat competitive, which is to be expected in a totally-free premium mentorship program. But as long as you convey how this mentorship can benefit you and that you are someone who is serious about your own future, you will get selected. During the application, you should select a preferred mentor. This is the most critical thing. Do your research about the mentors available and choose someone who will best help you grow. Selecting a mentor who has achieved or is working towards the same dream as yours is recommended, since they have knowledge and experience you need.
After the ScholarX team review your application, they will consider your preference and assign a mentor who is in your best interest. You will be connected with the mentor by sharing contact details and your mentorship begins!
So how has ScholarX been for me so far?!
I have always been intrigued by Dr.Jeewika Ranaweera who is a principal hardware engineer at Oracle. She and I got acquainted previously at a guest talk at ENTC which I moderated, and ever since, I have always wanted to be mentored by her. She is a determined and accomplished female engineer in the field of hardware engineering, which I’m starting to love. And, she is investing so much time and effort to uplift the careers of female engineers, like myself, which I admired.
Meanwhile, I heard about ScholarX from Mr.Kithmin Wickramasinghe, who was a junior lecturer and a helpful mentor for me, and some of my colleagues. I also got to know that Dr.Jeewika is a mentor in ScholarX. So, I grabbed the golden opportunity and applied. To much of my delight, I got assigned to my preferred mentor and our mentorship journey began.
Ever since I started being mentored by Dr.Jeewika, I’m having a new perspective about my dreams. She shared her life journey with us, how it has been shaped by the choices she made along the way. She explained how she took on a challenge by moving to Cuba for high studies, a new country, a new culture with a new language. Even though it seemed daunting to her at first, she told us that it’s the best choice she ever made. From there, she moved to Canada and then to USA, opening up new paths for herself along the way. She suggested to grab a chance that is worthwhile, when it is offered, even though it is not exactly our expertise or the preferred.
She offered great support in getting ready for our internship as well. She shared some valuable resources on setting up our LinkedIn profiles and offered her expert opinion and suggestions for improving my CV, specially for foreign job opportunities. She recommended to have a one-page CV backed by a strong LinkedIn profile when applying for a foreign internship.
Previously, I was only focusing on my career as a professional engineer but not so much about my responsibilities as a woman in engineering. She led me to think about engaging in volunteer activities which has sparked a great interest in me.
I’m looking forward for many more insightful and valuable mentoring sessions with her the coming weeks! I am thankful to the SEF team for providing this chance to me and many more young undergraduates to reach their wonderful dreams!