Mentor Spotlight: Rama Balakrishnan
Written By Julie Sheng
“Show that you care about them as a person.” For Rama Balakrishnan, this is the approach she takes as a Reach mentor. As a scientist in the pharmaceutical industry, Rama wanted to help lift others up as she had been helped when she first came from India. In 2020, when Rama’s kids were in college, she found herself with some free time. She saw an online Reach Foundation post looking for mentors and since then, she has not only been a Reach mentor, she has continued her mentorship as her students transitioned to college.
When asked what “caring about them as a person” looks like, Rama shared that for her, mentorship extends beyond asking students which colleges they are applying to, or how they’re progressing on their college essays. She explained that she takes the time to ask questions about her students’ lives such as asking students to share what they are learning in a particular class or how the student connects with a subject they are learning about. To build trust, she shares with her students her life experiences and makes herself available to her students whether they need someone to talk to, help finding a tutor for a subject, or checks in with her students over lunch.
Rama is also a big proponent of helping her students learn to self advocate for themselves. “Start small and build confidence.” She believes that a significant step for students is “when they realize they need to ask for help and when they are able to ask for that help.” She guides her students to learn advocacy through small steps such as having the student email a teacher if they are struggling in a class or talking to the high school counselor about the college application process. Fundamentally, she believes that the student has to desire growth because they are the ones having to put in the work. Helping her students learn how to self advocate, she believes, enables them to use their resources once they are in college because the first step is to be able to ask for help.
Through it all, Rama seeks to instill the importance of planning and organization in her students. She coaches her students and shares with them that it’s ok to fail and everyone encounters hardships. It’s more important to show grit and stick it out. Rather than mentoring a student through the college application process, she poses a larger question - “what is your goal?” and works with the student to develop plan A and plan B.
Her most rewarding experience as a Reach mentor has been working with one of her students who was able to get an Stanford internship, and is now applying to transfer to a four year college. Through it all, Rama has been there for her student’s journey, and showing her that she cares.
The Reach Foundation is now recruiting mentors for Fall of 2024. Please fill out this mentor intake form to be considered.