On Friday, May 12, 2017, Mithun Kamath, Senior Research Engineer at the Saint-Gobain Research and Development Center, visited Worcester YouthBuild as part of the Scientists in the Classroom series - designed to enhance STEM training for students. Mithun's inspirational presentation focused on life goals and pursuing one's dreams.

Raised in India, he came from a family that did not have a lot of money but enough to make ends meet. He knew in order to grow from his middle class he had to change his life. Mithun had to wait for five years before actually starting school because of financial constraints to pursue his dream for plastics engineering at UMass, Lowell.

Mithun's journey demonstrated to students that even if they come from nothing, they can still work to achieve what they want to do in life. And he is not alone, there are a lot of people who have come along the same way and just pursued their dreams in every aspect of life, so it*s not difficult for students to follow too. He quoted Kevin Ngo,"If you don't make the time to work on creating the life you want, you're eventually going to be forced to spend a LOT of time dealing with a life you don't want."

Mithun also wanted Worcester YouthBuild students to understand that America is a blessed place with lots of opportunities for the students as compared to many other countries and they should grab the opportunity with both hands to pursue their dreams. He also mentioned that students should be grateful for all the people, friends and family who help them as without their support he wouldn*t have been in this place today.

And Worcester YouthBuild is grateful to have Mithun share his wisdom and experience. Thank you Mithun Kamath and Saint-Gobain Corporation!

Student Comments:

"(Mithun) has his own way of living life. His main point of view is getting things done with the one life you have and I respect that." ~ Keith Lowell

"It's not your background or where you came from, it's about what you do now." ~ Jeremy Javier

"(Mithun) lives by the fact that you have one life and to live it the way you want - and I need to do that more often." ~ Kabilraj Kantharaj