Ashoka Reflections_AUGUST 2023
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The team is conscious and aligned on the same, which has helped us progress in that direction with more
scholarships and the introduction of exceptional aid for the 2024 cohort.
Overall, I am excited about the possibilities that the integration of Team YIF (i.e. programme, outreach and
admissions as one unit) would offer in the times to come.
Did your experience as a Young India Fellow and then consecutively, the Director of Outreach and
Admissions for the programme prepare you for your current role? How so?
Definitely. Being a Young India Fellow, you know that Fellows are the Fellowship. They quite organically tend to
take ownership of the Fellowship. I have always had that feeling of responsibility towards the YIF. While I do
run the risk of being someone who is romanticising an experience from 10 years ago when the Ashoka
campus did not even exist, it allows me to be more empathetic and listen intently with care. In situations
where we face an impasse or when Fellows talk to me and the Team my experiences have been quite helpful,
despite their situatedness. Furthermore, my experiences as a Teaching Assistant and my longstanding
association with the Alumni Association have enabled me to empathetically look at the evolution of the YIF
experience.
C O V E R S T O R Y
Ashoka Reflections | Page 05
What I could achieve in the Outreach
and Admissions team had a lot to do
with the fact that I had been at the YIF
before. Most of what we did was
possible due to the support of the
Fellows and the alumni community. Our
work with a batch in many ways ended
once we enrolled or onboarded them.
But now, I have the privilege of engaging
with the cohort throughout the year.
So, a lot of the qualitative and
quantitative insights that we had at
admissions, I now see them play out
during the Fellowship. It is a beautiful full
circle and I got to experience it for the
first time this year. It also reaffirmed our
conviction in our decision-making to a
large extent but also made us realise
that we cannot anticipate everything.
Many people showed up in ways we
never could have even conceived while
we were admitting them, and in more
cases than not, it was a very pleasant
and heartening surprise.
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