ScholarX 2021: The Journey So Far — Part I

ScholarX is a 6-month premium mentoring program organized by the Sustainable Education Foundation. The main objective of ScholarX is to provide Sri Lankan undergraduates the opportunity to meet and network with experts and outstanding talent from around the world in both Industry and Academia.

I first came across ScholarX while I was scrolling through LinkedIn, and I was totally impressed by the program structure because of how unique it was. I had never seen a one-to-one mentoring program that provides the opportunity to interact with talented Sri Lankans working at leading companies or studying at well-renowned universities. Being the curious person I am, I immediately started going through the program and decided to apply.

I was fortunate enough to be selected as a mentee out of 1000+ applicants, and more than that, I also got my first preference as my mentor. My mentor is Mr. Mirantha Jayathilaka, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Manchester who is very passionate about research in Computer Science. He is also currently working as a research scientist at Mindwave Ventures and possesses years of experience in both industrial and academic research. It is fair to say that the driving force behind selecting Mr. Mirantha as my mentor is my profound interest in computer science research.

By the time I am writing this blog, I have already had four meetings with my mentor. The first meeting was a group meeting with all the mentees supervised by my mentor, where I got the opportunity to meet and interact with undergraduates of different disciplines. Meetings with my mentor have been life-changing for me, with me learning something new during every meeting. As my mentor’s experience perfectly aligns with my interests, we always have very interesting discussions.

During our first one-to-one meeting, my mentor and I came up with a plan and evaluation criteria so that I will be able to get the maximum out of the program. As I am currently involved with my first research, my main goal during this program is to get some guidance on conducting a successful research. So during our meetings, we talk about different approaches to conducting research, the art of writing research papers, best practices to follow when implementing and evaluating research work, etc. My mentor also shares his own experience and expertise so that I get a better understanding of these things.

Another major topic we talk about is applying to grad school. Being someone who found and applied for a Ph.D. opportunity himself, my mentor has some amazing insights to offer me regarding this topic. Even though I always wanted to apply for grad school, I had no clue how to apply or what the process was at the start of my mentoring program. But now, I can confidently say that I have some idea about the Ph.D. application process and how to get it done on my own.

Looking back at the past three months, I can see how valuable this program has been. ScholarX is indeed a unique experience that I would not be able to get from anywhere else. ❤