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Few days back, we all were divided into four groups and each group has been assigned a mentor. I am in group Phewa. The division was made with the directive of Rudra Pandey, Chairman of Deerwalk.

First of all, I was astounded to find out that students were divided into groups. I have no idea on how it will proceed. I had found such divisions when I was in school. We were divided into different houses. Similarly, the research teams are comprised of students from all batches. I felt as if we were working in a company as a team. The mentors were like the directors, the 2015 batch were like the managers. Likewise, the 2016 batch were like HODs, 2017 batch were like the supervisors and 2018 batch, were like the interns who were there to learn from their work. I was also an intern then. That division brought a drastic change. We were familiar to a workplace then.

‘Utkrista ! Utkrista !....’ Then I finally realized that I was at a club meeting and our President Ruby Shrestha was calling me.

‘Oh! It was just an imagination in which I was sharing memories of my college’, I thought to myself.

Yeah! Now, all the students have been divided into different groups and each group is assigned with a research coordinators. The mentors are Sushant Pandey (Rara), Deependra Shrestha (Goshainkunda), Prasanna Pandey (Begnas) and Meena Shah (Phewa). Everyone has their own expectations from this division.

Here is what one of the research coordinators, Deependra Shrestha has to say, “I am very much excited about my new role as Research Team Mentor. This is a great opportunity for me to interact and learn with new people. To my new friends I want to say, let’s share our experiences and thoughts regarding information and technology.  Let's learn together as a team.”

Moreover, Prasanna Pandey, another research coordinator, says, "You must be as excited as I am regarding the possibility of doing/building something outside regular curricula. I am sure each individual student will have something to contribute and work together in a team building something that interests each one. I don't really have any big expectations from students but I want everyone to be present and give their full attention whenever I call a group meeting. I also want the students to keep me busy by regular visits in my office hours from 7AM to 9PM on weekdays."

Now, here are some opinions of students studying at DWIT regarding their expectations from their mentors as well as the whole concept:

"DWIT has always tried to innovate and inspire new ideas from its students. Though it has only four batches and fifth one on their way, DWIT surely will keep on growing. The division of students into research teams will bring in something new. I am not sure what, but we can expect that it will be something innovative. Studying BSc CSIT, students have a chance to enter into the field of research after graduation. Creating groups for the purpose of research will only make things faster.

I do not think we will see any "big" progress for a couple of months but when things get rolling, something amazing will happen." -Kundan Shumsher Rana, Fifth Semester Student

“It is the first time that DWIT has done this, and I hope to learn more from our mentors. I expect help and ideas for my semester projects as well as my final year project. I also expect to work in groups with our research team on any different project with some help from our mentors." -Sagar Giri, Fifth Semester Student

“From her short introduction last week, I know my mentor to be confident and friendly. I expect her to be a guide to every one of us in Phewa, to help us discover our capabilities and to encourage us to learn more and discover things by ourselves.” -Prakriti Shree Tuladhar, Second Semester Student

“I am selected for the research team named “Begnas”. There aren't many things I expect from my team mentor but he must be inspiring, motivating, encouraging and have a good qualities in instructing. I would be much happier to learn in a college way than in a corporate way. During similar types of research and training activities in the past, what I personally experienced is the program was organized not for truly learning and teaching but for the purpose of publicity. Mentors used to be inexperienced in the teaching, though they were said as they are the highly experienced instructors of the renowned company in the country and had an excellent knowledge in the field. So this time, I would expect mentors will be friendly, encouraging and inspiring.” -Suryaraj Timsina, Fifth Semester Student