Last updated: March 2, 2025

Mentorship

If you're on this page, then you probably want me to mentor you.

Thank you! I'm honored that you would like me to mentor you. I take mentorship very seriously, and I want to make sure that I can provide you with the best mentorship possible. This page outlines what you can expect from me as a mentor, what I can help you with, and what I expect from you as a mentee.

I find that the best educators (of which I strive to be) open themselves up to learning from their students. I hope to learn from you as much as you learn from me.

Why I mentor

I care deeply about mentorship, but also ensuring that this is a mutually beneficial relationship. That being said, I strongly believe that I wouldn't be where I am today without the help of my mentors, and I want to pay it forward. I also believe that I am in a unique position to help others, and I want to make sure that I can provide the best mentorship possible.

What I can help with

  • Career Advice: I can help you with career advice, whether it's about internships, grad school, or industry.
  • Research Advice: I can help you with research advice, whether it's about wanting to get into research, writing a paper, or giving a talk.
  • General Advice: I can help you with general advice, whether it's about life, school, or anything else.
  • Miscellaneous: Application review, development, design, networking, *insert topic here*

In a past life, I worked on scaling platforms for hundreds of thousands of people, in both the startup and non-profit space. I'm more than happy to help you with this as well; expect cyncism and pragmatism.

That being said, my background is primarily in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), so I may not be the best person to help you with other topics. To be more specific, I research intelligent user interfaces, accessibility, and education.

If you'd like to work on research with me, there are a few more hoops to jump through. I'm happy to discuss this with you, should you be mentored by me.

I also know a lot of people! If I can't help you in the moment, I may know someone who can.

About me

I think it's also important to know a little bit about me as a mentor; I tend to have the following qualities:

  • Perfectionism: I tend to be a perfectionist, and expect things to be as perfect as possible. (For better or worse)
  • Activism: I care a lot about activism in/out of academia; I constantly think about the impact of my work.
  • Honesty: I tend to be very honest, and will tell you what I think, but focusing on being constructive.
  • Workaholicism: I tend to work a lot-and if you ask me to do something, I will do it. (To an extent)
  • Empathy: I care about people first, as well, people. I try to understand and listen where you're coming from.
  • Balance: I try to balance my work and personal life, and I will encourage you to do the same. (I am very bad at this, and am trying to do better)

If you'd like to know more about me in a general sense, feel free to check out my about page. Googling me is also a good way to find out more about me. (albeit a bit creepy)

Expectations

I have a few expectations from you as a mentee:

  1. Commitment: Let's agree to a set "sync" schedule. This could be weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly-make sure whatver you choose is beneficial to you. This doesn't mean that you can't reach out to me outside of this schedule, but it's a good way to ensure that we're both on the same page.
  2. Goals: Let's set some goals for our mentorship. What do you want to achieve? What do you want to learn? What do you want to improve on? Why do you want me to mentor you?
  3. Responsibilities: I expect you to come prepared to our syncs. This means having questions, updates, and anything else that you think is relevant.
  4. Transparency: I expect you to be transparent with me-what you're working on, what you're struggling with, and what you're excited about. I can't help you if I don't know what's going on.
  5. Feedback: I expect you to give me feedback. What am I doing well? What can I improve on? What do you want to see more of? What do you want to see less of?

I will also hold these same expectations for myself.

Weekly "homework"

Depending on what we're working on, I may assign you some "homework" to complete before our next sync. This is typically a reading a paper, watching a video, or just exploring something new. This is to help you learn and grow, and to ensure that you're getting the most out of our mentorship.

There may be a few reasons why you don't do your homework:

  • You're busy
  • You're not interested in it
  • You forgot
  • It's too hard

And that's okay! Just let me know.

Asterisks

I do have a few asterisks to future mentees:

  • I am not an expert in everything. I will do my best to help you, but I may not always have the answer. I may, however, refer you to someone who does!
  • I have every right to end our mentorship if I feel that it's not working out.
    • I will also do my best to give you a heads up if I feel that this is the case.
  • I prefer long-term mentorships; these are the ones that provide the most value to both of us.
  • I work...weird hours. There's a also good chance I and/or you will be in different time zones. I will do my best to accommodate this, but please be patient with me.
  • I tend to mentor students who I can connect with via:
    • School and/or major
    • Research interests
    • Personal interests
    • Vibes

Becoming a mentee

Unfortunately, I can't mentor everyone who asks. I have a limited amount of time, and I want to make sure that I can provide the best mentorship possible.

What I don't care about

Mny people find themselves in a position where they feel like they need to "prove" themselves to a mentor, or are worried that they're not "good enough" to be mentored. I am the last person who wants you to do that.

For example, I don't consider:

  • Your GPA
  • Your school
  • Your major
  • Your experience/age

These aren't things that I care about. I care about you as a person, and I care about how I can help you.

If you think I care about any of these things, I will not be a good mentor for you.

What I do care about

That being said, I do care about a few things:

  • What you care about
  • Who you are
  • Where do you see yourself in the world
  • The type of impact you want to make
  • Intellectual curiosity
  • An implicit desire to make the world a better place

I hope that my mentees share these values with me, while bringing their own unique perspectives to the table.

Applying

I don't have a formal application process, but I do ask that you write me an brief email (<~250 words) that answers the following questions:

  • Who are you? Tell me about yourself.
  • Why do you want me to mentor you? What do you hope to achieve?
  • What are your goals for our mentorship? What do you want to learn?
  • What are you looking for in a mentor? What do you expect from me?
  • Anything else you think is relevant.

I'd also prefer if you could include a resume, CV, and/or personal website. (Or anything else you'd like to share!) The more varied information I have about you, the more informed I am in making a decision.

Send me these answers in an email to rkanchi [at] uw [dot] edu, and we can go from there. Make sure to include "Mentorship" in the subject line.

I read every email that I receive; don't worry too much about the word count, or making the email "perfect." That being said, if you need to actively convince me to mentor you, I'm probably not the best mentor for you.

I will get back to you as promptly as I can. If I don't get back to you within a week, feel free to send me a follow-up email in a reply to your original email.

Current mentees

  • Maitreyi Parakh, University of Washington (2025)

Past mentees

I have had the pleasure of mentoring some amazing people over the years, and I'm extremely proud of the work that they've done. Some of my past mentees have gone on to work at NASA, attended top schools, and have done some amazing things.

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