Aashit Ladani: Determined to succeed

Subsequent to my previous blog about the Cadence Scholarship Program, I bring to you another inspiring story featuring one of our students—Aashit Ladani.

Aashit is the only child of a migrant family who moved to Pune in search of a better quality of life. Aashit’s father had no fixed income, working as an electrician and earning just enough to get by. Despite their financial difficulties, Aashit’s father tried hard to give his son a better life, using his savings to help Aashit attend coaching classes to pursue a degree in computer engineering.

Aashit cleared the Maharashtra Common Entrance Test and secured a spot at AISSMS’s Institute of Information Technology, Pune, to pursue computer engineering. But his family found it difficult to pay for the course fees. When Aashit was in the second year of his course, his parents began struggling with the cost of living in Pune and were forced to return to their hometown in the state of Gujarat.

A Cadence employee who knew Aashit’s family referred Aashit to the Cadence Scholarship Program. After the screening process, Aashit was selected to be a part of the new scholarship recipients for 2018. He moved to a rented single room in Pune and depended on his mentors from Cadence for guidance and support. He has nothing but praise for both his mentors, Mr. Amit Sulakhe and Mr. Narendra Joshi from the Cadence Pune office. He found their approach to addressing his questions and challenges extremely valuable. He credits both his mentors for helping him find logical solutions and guiding him in the right path when he felt unsure of his future goals.

Aashit was selected for a 45-day paid internship program at the Macquarie Group, Ahmedabad, in his third year, which was facilitated by NGO Joining Hands. He used his time there to learn the nuances of the corporate world. He completed his engineering degree and was hired by the Volkswagen Group Technology Solutions as a trainee software engineer. He joined the company in August 2022 and shared that he has already started saving to buy a house for his parents and a car for his father.

Aashit says, “The Cadence Scholarship Program is the only reason why I was able to complete my education and work at one of the top multinational companies. It not only provided me with financial help but also nurtured me to become who I am today.”

Cadence Scholarship Program

Cadence Scholarship Program was introduced six years ago in India, and it aims at addressing the issue of retaining students from underprivileged backgrounds in the academic cycle through funding and support to undertake graduation and professional courses. Over the years, it has benefited more than 400 students across Delhi/NCR, Bangalore, Pune, and Ahmedabad.

The execution and administration of the program is managed by our NGO partners Concern India Foundation (CIF) and Joining Hands. The students are selected through a rigorous process of due diligence carried out by Joining Hands. Concern India Foundation oversees the student’s performance throughout their coursework. Cadence employees in each of these locations volunteer as mentors to help them with their studies, develop their personalities and improve their communication and employability skills.