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From Lost To Finding My Way: How Mentorship Shaped Me
College journeys rarely go the way we imagine. Mine surely didn’t. I had a decent JEE score, enough to get into NITs or IIITs, but somehow ended up in B.Sc. Physics at BHU. Two months later, I realized it wasn’t for me, so I switched to Electrical Engineering at MIT Muzaffarpur.
That switch wasn’t easy. I was nervous—MIT was known for ragging and the usual chaos of government engineering colleges. On the very first day of induction, someone gave me the address of the senior hostel, saying it was the cafeteria. That small prank, oddly enough, broke the ice. Slowly, things settled down. I found a group of friends, and those four years gave me memories I’ll always carry.
Back then, my plan was simple—prepare for GATE, crack IIT for M.Tech, and life would be sorted. But as always, life had other ideas.
How I Found Coding
Then came the lockdown. Classes stopped, and boredom pushed me to try coding. At first, it was casual. But the real spark came when I saw others participating in coding hackathons. Something inside me said, “Why not me?” From there, I discovered coding platforms and contests.
- What started as a side curiosity soon became serious.
- With my friends Shad and, later, Utkarsh, we formed a team and eventually made it to ICPC Regionals—the first team from BEU to do so.
- But it wasn’t straightforward. In the beginning, we didn’t even have three members. Seniors refused to join us, and for a while, it felt like we wouldn’t manage. Finally, Utkarsh came on board, and the team was complete.
Preparing for ICPC was intense. We spent late nights debugging code that refused to compile, argued over approaches, and even faced moments where we questioned whether we were good enough.
I still remember one contest where we couldn’t solve a single problem for the first two hours—it felt humiliating. But instead of quitting, we promised each other that next week we’d solve at least one problem, no matter what. Slowly, those “one problem” successes piled up until we were solving several in a stretch.
Reaching Regionals was a proud moment. Instead of just celebrating, we took that achievement back to our college. We created coding groups, mentored learners, and even conducted contests. That’s when I realized—success feels bigger when it multiplies.
How My Seniors Helped Me
In my early days, I was that student who always messaged seniors with the same question:
“What should I do now? What’s the path?”
I thought finishing a Udemy course in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript meant I was ready to build the next Facebook.
Spoiler: not even close.
But my seniors never laughed at me. They explained patiently that coding isn’t mastered in weeks—it takes time, effort, and practice. They showed me step by step what to focus on, and most importantly, they never made me feel dumb. Their guidance was the compass I needed when I was rushing without direction.
The Roller-Coaster Ride
Of course, things weren’t always smooth. After the lockdown, my coding discipline slipped. Backlogs in electrical subjects came knocking. And for someone who had never failed a subject till 12th, getting a backlog was a heavy blow. I was demotivated and even thought of leaving coding.
But something inside me didn’t let go completely. I shifted focus to clear my electrical papers, started attending all classes, and even took some online courses. At the same time, I continued giving coding contests just to stay connected. That balance slowly pulled me back.
I was even in doubt—can an Electrical student from a tier-3/4 college really get a job in IT?
No IT companies used to visit our campus, and the placement scenario was far from encouraging. Choosing coding felt like betting on a 1% chance of success, almost like playing with thorns. For Electrical students, the “secure” path was clear: PSUs or IITs through GATE. Going toward coding was stepping into uncertainty. But somewhere inside, I kept faith in that 1%.
And then came another milestone—my first salary from internships. The amount wasn’t huge, but with it, I bought my first smartphone. That feeling of using my own money brought a kind of satisfaction no exam rank ever gave.
Becoming the Mentor
Later, I got the chance to be a Teaching Assistant for a competitive coding batch at Coding Ninjas. That was special.
- Being a TA wasn’t just about teaching syntax or algorithms. It was about solving doubts side by side, coding with learners on problems, and understanding their thought process.
- Every time they rated my session positively, it gave me a quiet satisfaction—I was now standing where my seniors once stood for me.
- I still remember one specific moment. A learner had been struggling with a dynamic programming problem for days. We sat together and approached it using tabulation.
- At first, he was completely lost looking at the empty table. But slowly, step by step, he began to fill it on his own.
- It took time, and plenty of patience, but when the final table was completed and the solution worked, the smile on his face said it all. That single breakthrough gave him confidence, and the satisfaction it gave me was even greater.
That’s when mentorship clicked for me. It’s not about having all the answers. It’s about making someone feel they can figure things out if they just keep going.
Mentoring at Unstop
Currently, I mentor students at Unstop, where I conduct mock interview sessions and career guidance workshops. Talking to students, understanding their concerns, and helping them prepare for real-world interviews is incredibly rewarding.
Every session allows me to witness growth firsthand, and the energy and curiosity students bring make mentoring feel both inspiring and fulfilling.
Where the Journey Took Me
By the time college ended, my journey looked like a proper roller coaster:
- ICPC Regionals with Shad and Utkarsh
- Backlogs in electrical, but bouncing back
- Internships and my first salary (and my first smartphone!)
- TA role at Coding Ninjas
- Mentoring at Unstop
- Freelancing at Scale AI
- Offers from Infosys and Monocept, plus a high-paying (but contract) role at Turing
Choosing Infosys wasn’t entirely my decision. Turing was offering almost four times the salary of Infosys, but it came with contract terms and night shifts. On the other hand, Infosys was stable, and its Mysore training is world-famous. Family members also weighed in—most of them suggested stability over risk.
In the end, I chose Infosys, and looking back, it was the right call. The exposure, structured training, and the sense of community I found there laid the foundation for what came next.
Lessons Learned Along the Way
Looking back, my journey has been about much more than just learning to code or understanding electrical engineering concepts. It has taught me patience, persistence, and the importance of seeing things from different perspectives.
Every setback—a backlog, a failed contest, or a problem that seemed impossible at first—turned out to be a stepping stone. I’ve realized that growth doesn’t happen all at once. It comes through small wins, failures, and constant learning.
Helping others, staying up late debugging, or figuring out a tough dynamic programming problem wasn’t just about getting things done. It was about building resilience. That resilience has become my greatest strength, not just in work, but in life and learning.
I’ve also learned that success isn’t about who gets there first. It’s about the journey itself—the people you meet, the lessons you discover, and the feeling of solving something you once thought you couldn’t.
If I could share one piece of advice with someone just starting out, it would be this: enjoy the process, celebrate small victories, and never hesitate to ask for help. Every step you take, no matter how small, becomes part of a journey worth remembering.
What I’d Tell My First-Year Self
If I could go back, I’d tell that nervous first-year student at MIT:
- Never be in a big group just for the sake of it. Focus on your own skills.
- Give priority to your studies above everything else.
- Take every small challenge as a chance to grow.
That’s the advice I carry with me—and the one I’d pass on to anyone just starting their own roller-coaster ride.
Want to learn directly from the mind behind this article? Connect with Vinay Kumar on Unstop for personalized 1:1 mentorship, expert guidance, and more!
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