My journey through ScholarX 2021: Diary of a Mentee - Part 1.
First and foremost, I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to the Sustainable Education Foundation for providing me this valuable opportunity. I feel so honored and previledged to be selected as a mentee for ScholarX 2021 program and I believe this definitely would be a life changing experience.
ScholarX, founded by the Sustainable Education Foundation is a six month free premium mentoring program targeted on Sri Lankan university students. ScholarX 2021 is the third edition of this program, which had been initially started in 2019.
This program gives access to an outstanding panel of mentors representing a variety of leading universities and companies from around the world and from both industry and academia. We are given the opportunity to choose two mentors based on our objectives, where, upon selection, we will be assigned to one of the mentors. Successful candidates will then gain access to this life changing opportunity where they will work together with the assigned mentor for the rest of period.
Let me introduce myself….
I am a recent graduate specialized in Immunology and Integrative Molecular Biology from University of Colombo. I got to know about this program via a Facebook post shared by Mr. Deepesh Jayasekara, who is also a current mentor in the program, an inspiring personality I got to know during my volunteer career at Leo Club of University of Colombo. He was really helpful to provide me with details, and with no more doubts, I was tempted to take this rare opportunity!
ScholarX program is one of the best platforms I ever came across as a prospective graduate student looking for opportunities to reach my career aspiration of becoming a scientist engaged in research either in academia or industry. Being a passionate individual in science, I strongly believe that sharing ideas and getting guidance from a fellow Sri Lankan expertise in the same field will be an immense support to achieve my life goals.
I was further impressed by the success stories shared by ScholarX alumni during the first introductory session. After attending the orientation session, I knew I have become a part of that perfect vibe which will bring wings to my my personal and career development goals!
My Mentor…
I was assigned to Dr. Iromi Wanigasuriya, who is currently a post doctoral researcher at Elizabeth Hinde laboratory, Department of Physics, University of Melbourne. She is an experienced researcher in molecular biology and epigenetics where my interests matched too perfectly. She is a recipient of multiple academic and research awards and an outstanding personality willing to support and develop others. After the orientation, I got connected with Dr. Iromi via LinkedIn. We first communicated via emails and introduced ourselves to each other. I was delighted to have her as my mentor and was looking forward to our first one-to-one virtual meeting via zoom which was held on 19th May, 2021.
The first meeting…
Before our first virtual meetup, Dr. Iromi suggested me some areas to think and be ready to discuss during the meeting. It included my background story as an individual interested in science, the expectations I hope to achieve through our sessions and my career goals and interests. After discussing on those for sometime we moved to discussing about pursuing higher studies.
Once I explained her about my current position in the process of seeking for postgraduate studies, Dr. Iromi detailed me about much more effective ways of looking for such opportunities which were really helpful to me. She further explained about laboratory dynamics within a research lab in general and gave me more suggestions to improve the methods I followed to reach-out for professors. She emphasized the importance of paying attention to lab techniques and choosing a good supervisor when looking for postgraduate studies.
The whole discussion lasted for about 45 minutes and I never felt the time running! During the latter part she gave me some take home work, directly related to researching about professors when applying for higher studies. She advised me on improving my CV and writing the first email to professors and kindly offered to check them for me. She further provided me with details related to the labs available in Australia which currently pursue projects related to my research interests and experiences.
The second meeting…
Our second one-to-one zoom session was held on 2nd June, 2021. It was again a fruitful session where we discussed much deeply about seeking for higher studies. Dr. Iromi introduced me to a PhD. researcher in Australia which will bring me the chance to get a clear insight of a research lab carrying-out research matched to my interests.
We discussed more about another important aspect in our lives - the value of maintaining mental wellbeing as a researcher. With her life experiences, Dr. Iromi emphasized the importance of allocating some quality time for ourselves which is an important aspect in maintaining the peace of mind. Her words made me remind the fact that, life happens and having ups and downs in life is normal to everyone….and what matters most is continuing to enjoy our beautiful life!
We planned to have our upcoming meetups once in three weeks or four weeks and get in touch when needed without waiting till the next meeting. So, one month has gone, out of the six months and we are done with two impressive sessions. I am excited to see how this ScholarX journey would continue to elevate me in the upcoming months.
