About Vijay Patankar

This is how Vijay is a Changemaker:
Vijay is very passionate about mentoring and helping high school students. He has a unique gift for empowering and motivating young adults. By profession, Vijay is a technical trainer and a Telecommunications Engineer with more than twenty years of IT experience. But his passion for helping young adults compelled him to move away from core IT into education and training. He currently teaches Academic English and computing studies at UNSW in their Foundation Studies Program in Sydney, Australia. Vijay is also the creator and presenter of the Study Skills Program. This program inspires, motivates and teaches life and study skills to high school students. Students who complete this program consistently display higher self esteem and are more confident about their learning abilities. Life skills acquired through this program prepares them to take better decisions when faced with academic challenges and life situations. Most importantly this program enables them to see the big picture: Schooling -> Education -> Career -> Life.

The place for which Vijay feels a fondness or connection:
The rugged outback of Australia because I agree with Edward Abbey when he said “Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit".

The change Vijay passionately wants to happen:
Young adults are the foundations of our society hence they need to be mentored and groomed. Given the right environment many have the potential to reach great heights. Vijay would like to see young adults complete their education to the best of their abilities. Education will open doors to new opportunities and will prepare them to face life's challenges. Educated young adults have a better chance of making a positive contribution to society when being employed. When young adults turn their life around, they become positive role models for the younger generation which watches and follows them. Vijay believes that his role as an educator is to inspire, motivate and help as many young adults as he can. Helping a young adult to Vijay is like lighting a candle. A candle that is lit not only banishes darkness, but also has the capacity to light other candles. Life and study skills from Vijay's program can be taught to adults, parents, educators, teachers and students. Small to medium schools can immensely benefit when both teachers and students simultaneously learn and apply these skills. This program has the potential to raise the credentials of an entire school or community. Due to lack of funding and in absence of corporate sponsors, Vijay has not been able to put his passion, knowledge and skills to best community use. Please do not hesitate to contact Vijay if you have any suggestions on funding or ideas on how to take this program further.