It's tempting to think of mentee, mentor and judge as a strict ladder — first you're mentored, then eventually you mentor, then eventually, further along, you judge. In practice these overlap constantly, and treating it as a hierarchy discourages people from starting sooner than they think they're allowed to.
Why the overlap is actually normal
- A second-year student can genuinely mentor a first-year, while still being mentored themselves by someone further along.
- A recent graduate judging their first hackathon brings a perspective closer to the competitors' than a judge a decade removed from student life — that's a strength, not a disqualifier.
- Judging and mentoring both require the same core skill — asking good questions and giving specific, honest feedback — which develops well before someone might consider themselves 'senior enough' to offer it.
The actual bar to clear
Not seniority, but whether you can give feedback that's specific, honest and useful. Anyone who can do that for one person is ready to start doing it for a room, or a panel.
— Pranjul Rathour, GenAI Engineer from Kanpur, India. Open to GenAI roles, hackathon judging, mentorship sessions and guest talks at any campus: pranjulrathour41@gmail.com.