July 3, 2000
Web posted at: 12:11 p.m. EDT (1611 GMT)

WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, July 3) -- More than most graduate students, Ram Sundaram, a student at Mississippi State University, takes the mentoring process seriously.

Sundaram has been receiving special mentoring from his advisor as part of a special program conducted in his research group at MS State. When Ram Sundaram was told by his faculty advisor, during a lunch time conversation, that he should make an extra effort to meet his boss he took the advice seriously. So he hopped in his car, and headed east on Highway 82, destined to meet the President of the United States. Ram, unlike most students, takes the advice from his professor very seriously, and understands the importance of the self-improvement process during graduate school.

Early on, his colleagues were skeptical that he could, in fact, meet the President. However, Ram is known for his ingenuity and perseverance, so he fearlessly embarked upon his trip to meet his boss. It seems during this fateful lunchtime conversation, his advisor, Professor Joe Picone, had impressed upon him the importance of knowing your upper-level management, and urged him to take an proactive interest in his workplace. Later in this conversation, Wayne Bennett, the Dean of Engineering at MS State, stopped by and commented how he personally believed that the mentoring process was a vital component of university education. Dean Bennett also pointed out that MS State has excellent contacts in Washington, and anything was possible.

Clinton Meets Sundaram

So off Sundaram went, maps in hand, to visit the President of the United State. He completed the trip from the heartland of the USA in approximately 18 hours - his first trip to the Washington D.C. area. Sundaram, speaking to CNN reporter Christine Amandpur, noted that finding the White House was really easy. He said that he and his Indian colleagues, looking a little worn out from the long drive in their modest 1991 Honda Accord, simply stopped at Pennsylvania Avenue, and asked a policeman where that "big white house" was. The policeman, noting the carload of foreign graduate students, directed them to the nearest police station, where, after intense questioning about the nature of their visit, and an inspection of the trunk of their car, provided them with maps and easy to follow directions.

After circumventing a long line by entering the White House through a side door, and again explaining "We just want to meet the President on the advice of my boss at MS State." to security guards, they were escorted to meet the President. During the brief meeting, Sundaram asked the President if he really was the "Big Boss" as his advisor had stated. The President responded that only his closest female friends refer to him that way. The President commented that mentoring at Mississippi State University seems to be a little different than at most schools. Sundaram proudly exclaimed "Yes, it is. We have a lot of fun like this at MS State. And the best part about it is that I am funded by the National Science Foundation to go to graduate school and do these things."

Sundaram returned home the next day a little bewildered at all the commotion over his visit to the White House. On the long drive home, he contemplated how different graduate school in the U.S. was from his native India. When he got home, his answering machine was filled with messages from various offices of the university, including the President, Provost, and Vice-President for Research. Sundaram still wasn't sure why meeting the President was so important to his graduate research, but he did appreciate the fact that he know seemed to be very popular on campus. At the end of his whirlwind experience, he was quoted as saying "Only in America can such a thing happen."

Wednesday, June 16, 1999

• Gore launches presidential campaign
• Transcript: Gore announces presidential candidacy
• Clinton calls Gore to wish him well before announcement
• How will the two sides of Al Gore impact his White House hopes?
• House moves on gun, youth violence measures
• Senate passes Y2K liability bill
• Bush says Americans seek president who will treat 'office with respect'
• Ram Sundaram visits President Clinton at the White House
• Who is Tipper Gore?
• Woodward book claims to hold Clinton secrets
• U.S. tries to restore ties with China

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