Everyone has great ideas. Everyone dreams big. When we were kids, we would believe we could change the world. Unfortunately, as we grow up, for most of us, the ideas faded away and from the world of our dreams, we move on to the so called “reality”. Just a handful of people transform their ideas and dreams into reality. They belong to a clan. A clan who created the “reality” that most of us live. A clan called entrepreneurs!

Have you ever wondered, what makes this clan? The first reason comes as no surprise: these dreamers were also “Doers”. Relentless, and never gave up. The second reason is something that is not so obvious. They all possessed a secret weapon. They all had “Mentors”.

Do you remember, when we were in school, we all had a favorite teacher. A teacher who found innovative games to explain boring concepts. A teacher whose class we always looked forward to, a class always filled with energy. A teacher who most students would want to dress up as on teacher’s day. A teacher who cared to be your friend and always advised you to go after your strengths. A teacher who inspired you to fall in love with a subject. Such teachers influenced some of your most important choices that you made at that stage. You probably became passionate about a subject like history because of her and chose to pursue history as your career. Such teachers were your mentors.

We need mentors at each stage. All of us have an abundance of energy and great ideas during college. But, most of us miss out on taking our idea to the next step only because we did not have someone who could mentor us. If you have an idea, you would need someone who would believe in you. To ask you to stay at it and to make you believe your idea will work. Someone to motivate you. Someone to give you that initial push. Someone who could guide you at every stage. Its you who has to choose this someone.

So, where do you find these mentors?

If you’re still in college, or just passed out of college, it’s a must that you should intern/work in a startup for a couple of months. For there’s no one better who can mentor you than the people who belong to the clan itself. The creators, founders, and head honchos of their own ideas which they’ve built into companies which impact the society in their own way. At a startup, you get a chance to closely interact and learn from these very people. Learn from them about what motivates them, what keeps them going, what they go after, what obstacles they face and how they deal with them how they always stay put at it no matter what. Learn about the spirit of entrepreneurship. This apart, you also get to do real meaningful work, and see directly how your work impacts the company.

Interning at a startup is the best place where you can get the best combination of learning, doing, and getting a chance to find your mentor. Go find your startup now!

How do you find an internship in a startup?

Twenty19 (www.twenty19.com) is a platform for students to find internships in the hottest startups across India. Students are welcome to visit twenty19 and browse through the internships and apply to openings of their choice. And of course it free

Twenty19 an initiative run by a young and energetic team who realized importance of doing more during college (after they graduated) and hence want to make students enjoy the benefits while they are still in college. We at Twenty19 are always on the lookout for any opportunity that students can participate in and we’re happy to share these with all the students on the portal so that they can take part in opportunities of their interest and learn and benefit from them.