Passiveness to Exploring

Mentoring can help change the attitude

Name: Joel Sarrao
Class: Final year, engineering
College: Mangalore Institute of Technology Engineering, Moodbidre
Age: 22
Background:
Joel hails from a family of four members. His father is a chef and his
mother is a housewife. He has a sibling and now studies in 11 th standard. Joel has been into
the Anveshana program for the past one year. He presented the carbon Dioxide Extraction
from atmospheric air and got the 4th prize.
Before Anveshana:
Joel says that he was never aware about the programs like Anveshana or any science
exhibitions that are conducted. He says that due to this lack of awareness so many students in
the science community are not able to expose their talent. He says that he likes the subject a
lot and always tries to encourage students who want to study. He also mentions that one of
the kids in his locality could not attend the school because of the financial concerns and his
parents helped her to restart her education. With this interest in the subject, he says that he
would be very glad to be a mentor as a mentor’s job is to provide growth and development in
mentee’s learning.
During Anveshana:
Joel says that he loves challenges and always wanted to be a mentor. He says that had he
never knew during his school times that there would be so many experiments possible.
However, when he first saw his mentees, he says he was worried if he could handle the
responsibility. But as the ice broke between them, the mentees started asking questions and
there was a seamless communication built between both. He says that during this process, he
had constant support from his family and the lecturers at the college.
After Anveshana:
Once Anveshana was over, he says that all his friends in the college were very interested to
know about the process and how the concept of mentorship works. He says that they even
appreciated the fact that how a young child is given a very big stage to perform his talents
and with the support from a mentor. He says that he is still in contact with those students and
they contact him to resolve any doubts if they have. Joel says that mentoring has helped him
not just on a subject level but on a personal level, to understand the problems, to
communicate thoroughly, and understand the other person’s perspective and how to come to
a middle ground to solve the problem. He says that the change is even visible to others and he
thanks the program for that.