Let’s Create an Alternative to a COVID-affected Academic Year 😊
This year has been… different.
What a year so far — and not in a specific positive way! We are experiencing a public health care and social justice crisis. Given all those circumstances, I was particularly proud of all students who graduated a few weeks ago. You have overcome long nights, thick books, and many other obstacles over the last years. I just need to say that: YOU ROCK! 🎉
Sadly, the next academic year won’t be as expected. Most universities will turn to online classes. Naturally, students have many concerns: Is it worth it paying full tuition for a degraded educational experience? Do I feel excited about school without the day-to-day interactions and bonding events with my peers? How will I grow as a person over the next months? Times are tough.
The Alternative: a Hands-On Fellowship at a Startup
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As the oldest of five siblings born into a working-class immigrant family in Germany, a good and engaging educational experience was the single most important growth factor in my life. Now, as I am working on Lumos with an unbelievable team here in Silicon Valley, I think a lot about how we as a startup could fight this educational crisis — at least a little. Inspired by Elementl’s fellowship, we at Lumos hope to provide a better alternative for a suboptimal school year: a paid, semester- or year-long fellowship working on a high-growth startup with us. 🥳
We don’t want anyone to drop out. Rather, we think of the Lumos Fellowship as a gap semester or year of applied learning with a mentorship program. Frankly, joining an early-stage startup is probably the best hands-on learning experience you can get! And it is a lot of fun 😊 We have a fellowship for:
- AI (PhDs & grads)
- Product Management
- Product Design
- Software Engineering
🚀 So, check this page out to learn more. Apply and join Lumos in our mission to create a safer world online! We strongly encourage people from groups that are presently underrepresented in tech to apply.
Companies: Offer more Opportunities for Students!
More importantly, I want to use this post to encourage any startup or company to follow suit. Mentoring students takes time but it is our responsibility to offer a good alternative for any student who wants to have a more practical hands-on experience! These students are our next generation; let’s make sure they receive the right education to grow into world-class leaders!
- Companies, feel free to reach out andrej@lumosidentity.com if you want to discuss this option of fellowships for students — happy to share thoughts!
- VCs, please do encourage your well-performing startups that can afford such an undertaking to think about it!
- Students, feel free to forward this to your friends or spread the news in your mailing lists. I am incredibly grateful for my university experience and it’s not easy right now! So, I am here to help however you want me to — regardless of Lumos. Just drop me a line!
Sending lots of positive vibes your way,
Andrej
P.S. In case you still want to do school, create a video background to have a convincing loop of you looking engaged 🎉🙌
P.P.S. We were inspired by the one and only Nick Schrock, co-founder of Elementl! His company is funded by the same investor (Neo) as Lumos is and Elementl has a similar program for engineers. Check it out here: https://www.elementl.com/2020-2021-engineering-fellowships
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