Mentor Story: Roli Sinha - Cadence Scholarship Program

Introduced five years ago, the Cadence Scholarship Program is the flagship CSR program of Cadence India. Many meritorious students from under-served sections of society drop out of the education system after school because of the lack of finances. The project addresses this issue by retaining such students in the academic cycle through funding and support. Cadence employees come forward to serve as mentors for these students to guide them in their studies and career aspirations. They meet their mentees regularly for them to understand their issues and help solve their problems, which help students complete their course with good marks, improve their communication skills, overcome their fears, and emerge with a great personality and positive outlook towards life.

Meet Roli Sinha, Sr. Principal Technical Communications Engineer, one of the senior mentors for the Program in Noida, and hear about her experiences and association with the Scholarship Program.

What’s your perspective on this program?

The Cadence Scholarship Program was introduced to enable deserving students to receive college education by reducing the impact of high fees. The scholarship takes care of the most critical aspect of college education: the financial one. A significant factor in the successful completion of the course is the student’s morale and motivation during the course. This is where the mentors—our Cadence employees—volunteer as guides and play a vital role in ensuring that students stay on track and achieve their educational goals without hindrances and with high scores.

 

Why do you think so? What’s so unique about it?

I believe that the right mentor can be a student’s anchor in the strongest storms. Students know that their mentor is their champion and is always there to guide, counsel, and help them in selecting the right options. The unwavering support and belief of mentors in their students has often enabled the latter to have faith in themselves. The mentor-mentee equation is one of the most beautiful and heartening aspects of the Cadence Scholarship Program.

 

How long you’ve been participating in this program? What excites you the most?

I have been a part of the Cadence Scholarship Program since it was launched in 2016. One of my tasks was to match the mentors with the mentees in the Noida chapter of the Cadence Scholarship Program. The enthusiasm, commitment, and giving spirit of the mentors warmed my heart. I was delighted by the camaraderie and instant bond that emerged between the mentors and their mentees.

Speaking to my own mentees, I realized that my own growth as a person was entwined in this interaction. I have always been impressed by the resilience, perseverance, and intense focus of the students. I have observed in them a greater desire to improve than in any other set of individuals I’ve known. Their obvious gratitude for the assistance they were receiving made me realize that indeed, in our own way, we are making a difference in their lives, just as these students are enhancing our own.

 

Amidst your workload, how do you manage? 

Adding another task to our to-do list can become a little overwhelming. However, when the cause is so gratifying, and the results so encouraging, the weight of our own workload tends to lighten. Interacting with these students, coordinating with the mentors and the mentees, working to ensure that the Cadence Scholarship Program stays on track, and so on, are not tasks, things to-do, or work. These are the reasons that make the heart and soul smile. Of course, it takes 17 facial muscles to smile! But would you rather not smile? 

 

Finally, what are the challenges that you faced?

The ongoing pandemic constituted the biggest challenge for the Cadence Scholarship Program. Schools and colleges moved to the online platform and students had to switch from the costs of commuting to the costs of computers and network connections. The former costs were a fraction of the latter. Inability to hold physical meetings while trying to stay connected with the enrolled students, conducting discussions with prospective students for 2020, 2021, and now 2022 over zoom calls, identifying students who needed medical assistance; our challenges still continue, as does the hope that the world will recover from this situation and so will the Cadence Scholarship Program!