Design Your Own Path

ENRIQUEZ: Design your own path

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It’s telling that a year later, Marina Keegan’s piece on consulting and banking recruitment, “Even Artichokes have Doubts,” continues to ignite heated conversations across campus and the country about campus recruitment and the jobs we take once we leave Yale. The piece left us questioning what we value, how we measure our own impact and what we want to learn along the way.

I didn’t go through the consulting and banking interviews many of my friends did this past year. I spent my summers working in rural Mexico on development projects and running around Colombia doing research on drug cartels for my senior thesis. My value system developed through these on-site experiences, because I learn better from full immersion into my projects than I do behind a textbook or my laptop. I grabbed these opportunities when they were offered to me because I wasn’t sure I’d ever have these chances again.

The most interesting people I’ve met at Yale are the unconventional ones. The ones who didn’t follow the rules and instead made their own. The ones who skipped down the path written out for them or forged their own way. The ones who aren’t afraid to be different and push beyond the expected in their fields — whether this is in engineering, philosophy or social sciences. There is something to be said for people challenging the accepted order of things.

It feels like the big question on all of our minds, and especially the anxious seniors, is how we get to the next step. Once we leave, how do we realize the larger projects we have in mind — the ones we developed while we had time to explore at Yale?

It requires a certain confidence to accept uncertainty, to accept being different. I’m talking about those people in your sections, your seminars and your afternoon activities whose eyes light up when they talk about their ideas and projects. How do we hold on to these interests and turn them into our future projects? As we begin the job search, we are also figuring out how best we can put these ideas into practice.

Personally, I have come to understand that my future job will require me to pitch my own ideas, and to me this is both terrifying and exciting. I spent my break talking to people who were doing work that I found interesting. I learned about the pros and cons of working in think tanks and living in various cities. I asked about what work life was actually like and how much people could control in their daily lives. I asked about skill sets and what people hoped to get out of their current jobs. It’s all given me a better way of understanding what I am looking for in a work environment.

One statement came up over and over again in these conversations: the single career path no longer exists. You will probably change jobs several times over the course of your lifetime, and each one will teach you something you need to take on to the next round.

This is exciting. It means we don’t need to have that 10-year plan carefully laid out and set in stone right now. You have the chance to work on all kinds of projects and talk to interesting people, but you also need to keep pushing yourself to come up with new ideas.

We came to Yale as individuals, each with something to offer to our classes as a whole. Over time it gets more difficult to give these unique traits the same degree of weight, and we may be tempted to conform and give them up. But make a promise to yourself here and now:

Celebrate everything that makes you unusual. Because that individuality is what will help you find your first job and your space in whatever community you find yourself after Yale. It’s up to you to decide what impact you want to have in the world, and how you’ll measure it along the way.

Medellin and Antioquia: a Check-List

Imagine a city where the history is still so present that it sits on rooftops, on the backs of motor cycles, in dark alleys, crevices in the mountains, whispers, names, the cover of DVDs on sale in the informal street market, and on the beautiful metro-cable cars that climb into the barrios in the mountains...

Welcome to Medellin.

You wont soon forget what you learn here.

A Check-List:

[done] found people speaking in a much higher volume than usual.. or at least this is true for me because I mumble frequently. They speak with a rich, loud and whole hearted voice, or at least, the stereotypical Paisa does. There is so much love for this city from so many of the people who live here. Love for this area, and it's people and it's personal strength -- which people frequently point to as the reason that this city grew and prospered after it's long period of violence.

[done] the flower festival is going on right now. A tradition attributed to former president Uribe when he served as mayor of Medellin and then governor of Antioquia. Tourists have come pouring into the city to see the free theater productions in the streets, the antique car show tomorrow, the parades, street markets, tourists... so much activity. Right from an air rich in agricultural production and growth of beautiful flowers like the hydrangeas that will soon go to the US. Some of them will even be spray painted darker blue to meet American preferences.

I feel that last statement is funny in a dark, bitter cynical humor kind of way.

[done] went through three military check points on one outing from the city. The driver assured me, it's good. it's good! It means they are keeping the city safe. It's hard not to feel a little nervous when a young solider with an AK-47 is standing outside your car drilling the driver about who you are and where you are going, asking for endless papers and proof of activities... then he leans into the car. His arm resting on the top of the door way, and he watches you with cold, calculating eyes. Who are you. Where are you going. whereareyoufromdoyouknowthismanhaveyoubeenherebeforeforhowlong... it all blends together.

The history is raw and sitting there in front of you. You realize in these moments that perhaps less has changed than we all thought.

[done] endless books, comic strips and now a TV series exist on the life of Pablo Escobar. From street corners, for formally certified national bookstores, windows and displays feature his face prominently and his name in red or black bold font. I now own a bookstore (or at least, pretty decently stocked table in the informal street market) worth of new things to read...

[done] bandeja paisa. Sort of. Being vegetarian proved to be impossible while I was here given the circumstances. So I dove in with other things, but I fear a good 1/3 of what comes with this local specialty. Mainly, the seriously intense pork rinds and the blood sausage.

[done] enjoy the breeze and amazing fruit in the nearly permanent spring time. Even the papaya tastes somewhat ok!

[done] the city allows artisans, hippies and artists to sell their work in the plaza bolivar on the first Saturday of every month. Which happened to also be today, my day off and the first day I am not doing interviews while I have been in Colombia. I saw all of the different ideas and skill sets that came to this space today in a very festival and colorful display of works, local resources, and new ideas. The other thing I love about informal markets is that you meet and talk to zillions of super different and interesting people. From the woman who was a long time artist making silver rings with flowers pressed inside of glass to the backpacking Argentine man who sold me a pair of meticulously women flower earrings to the two Antioquian women who made my first Arequipe (it's rice wafers with caramel and queso fresco inside) and the true Paisa man who sold me my Medellin gaucho bag.

And here ends my tale for now. I need to pack to go home tomorrow.

Love Letter to my Lonely Travelers

Dear Lonely Traveler, Explorer, Friend,

Well, you've done it. You've done what most people spend their lives fearing -- you've left what you know and decided to try something new. You're learning to adapt to a new space. You're meeting new people, you're (hopefully) trying new foods, maybe speaking a new language, seeing all the places you're supposed to see... and getting to know yourself a little better.

What you can actually do when there arent people there telling you how to do it. You're navigating a new space. You're learning about how you fit in in the grand scheme of a city... because for the first time you may be figuring out what it is like to adjust and have to find a place for yourself. If you are lonely, you're doing it right. It means you've gone beyond whats comfortable and seeing the brand sparkling new, there in front of you.

I've always felt lucky. I like being in different places and learning how to leave that uncomfortable time of mal-adjustment and hope that things will get better. Because, they do. I promise. I've lived in a few different places so far. Always with the goal: learn to survive. learn to find comfort where you are. make a space for yourself, because you can. It's tough. uncomfortable. Painful sometimes. I know I'll never be able to leave everything behind, and I carry parts of home with me wherever I go. Because you have to, dont think you cant. You will never forget where you came from, and that's a beautiful thing about you.

So, my lonely traveler, you're getting better. It is getting easier. You're doing a great job! And soon, very soon, you wont even notice that feeling of "foreignness." You'll tell your friends about the places you went and people you saw, and they'll smile because guess what... you look like a pro.

You'll return as a different person because you made yourself jump these hurdles. You made new friends and built a new space for yourself. Guess what? When you do it next time, it will only be easier :)

And in the meantime, know that you have a friend in me. And I'm always here for a chat.

Hugs.

Diana

[Disclaimer: this post is dedicated to a very wonderful friend and loyal reader now in Belgium, but I think the theme is universal enough that I wanted to post it as an open letter to my friends every where going through the out-of-place-in-my-new-space experience. Good luck!]

Architecture and the art of being breathe-taking

There are moments in your days where something will cause you to stop. Be silent. Retreat into that thoughtful place in your mind that pushes everything else out and leaves you with a question.

Mine is usually simple: How?

For me, Ellora was one of these spaces. One of those spaces where life pulls off the blindfold and you stand there desperate to make sense of the flood of sounds, images, smells, emotions and things going on around you. There was an added element of fear for me in this occasion: when I had my first view of the temple in the man-made cave I was standing 3 ft away from a sheer cliff. (for those of you who dont know, I have an intense fear of heights. All drops 10 ft or higher cause something resembling a fight or flight response to kick in)

The site is unbelievable. Made only more so by the fact that all of it was carved from the top down. Out of a sheer rock cliff. While no one is certain as to why it was done this way, there are many stories and rumors that people are happy to share with you if you ask them.

The closest experiences I have to spiritual moments usually take place in buildings. I realize that doesnt sound very glamourous -- what I mean by that is that I love architecture and art and all places where human talent can be shown off and admired in an approachable way. I love sculpture and working in 3D forms because you can experience a piece from different angles and see it totally differently. How it manipulates shadows, how it interacts with you and the space, and most importantly, how you in your most instinctual self react to it.

Most importantly I love buildings where the talent of the architects and engineers that worked together to create masterpieces. Where so many talents and minds come together to design and build a space and a living sculpture that becomes more than just a piece of art to be seen. It loses that elitism attached to formal art galleries and art spaces because everyone is interacting with the piece in a space.



I think first of the church in Ulm, Germany, where I was an exchange student 6 years ago (it's interesting to me how much I have been thinking about that time while I've been here. In truth, it is more than I have ever thought about it before. I guess it's the same episode of feeling out of my element, then slowly learning to adapt, and finally finding a corner for myself). I remember walking into the huge doors of the church into the central cathedral space and being stunned. It was like I was enveloped in peace. I know that doesnt make much sense, but that was what I experienced. It was a sense of calm like the last sigh of tension left my shoulders. A pretty magical experience for a control freak like me :)


This space in Ellora has a different feeling attached to it. One of awe. and Mystery. And seeing how much more there is to the world than we can ever begin to comprehend. This space was built so long ago with tools less technically advanced that we have now. It was built on the backs of countless slaves on an empire so rich that they could create this sort of masterpiece. The details and use of the space is not comparable to anything I have ever seen before and my photos cant begin to do it justice.

For me, it was a moment of accepting that I will never completely understand the space, what it was meant for and everything that was pouring into creating it. I came to experience it in that short-tourist-feeling-attention based way, while so many others spent there lives here in these caves exploring their purposes and adding to the color and history of its years in use.

It helped as we walked through the darkness of its passage ways, dodging the bats and pot holes carved into the stone, I had time to think through a few questions I've had lately. Namely about my majors and my final theses in each of them. I needed that time.

I was only brought back out of my hiding place in my mind when we entered the central temples and stood without our shoes in complete darkness. The first room had pillars with ornate patterns carved into them. The most important space, however, was at the end of this great hall and it was decoration-less. There was just a stupa sitting in the middle of the room, drawing all of your attention to these basic shapes. Our guide referred to it as the "womb" of the temple, which was fitting. It was warm and dark anyway...

I think I'll probably have more to say about this later, once it sinks in, but I wanted to update this now before this next week goes crazy. I only have 3 more days here because I leave really early Thursday morning and arrive in Boston on the same day. Pretty wild, no?

So for now, I'm going to tie up a few more lose ends and pack before our closing dinner this evening.

But I'm sure I'll be back soon :)

On the Other Side of the DC Intern Waves

It's really funny to be here right now, on the other side... sort of.

See, last year I was a DC Intern like the millions of them rolling through the Starbucks I've been parked in since 7:15 am. Many of them are walking through here with the I-am-a-professional game face on as they order their morning coffee. Yup, that was me on the walks from Georgetown to Dupont all summer last year. It was weird to be back in it yesterday -- I stayed in the GW dorms with a friend of mine from high school. We stayed up late talking in the park across the street from her dorm and watching all of the student interns come in and out of their dorms talking about how tough work was that day or the projects they were working on. Funny, it was a been there, done that kind of moment.

Dont get me wrong, I like DC. I liked it so much more than I thought I would when I first arrived here a year or so ago. By the end I was sad to leave my office and the people I worked with in the Inter-American Dialogue. We had a great time and I learned A LOT.

But I also have the travel bug. I figure, while I'm still young and crazy I should make use of all of my energy. I do better working in a very hands on setting at the moment. I liked working as an analyst, but I missed working with people. Talking to them, being there, doing projects myself instead of running support and outsourcing... I found after being an exchange student that I learn best from making myself uncomfortable and being forced to adapt. It's helped me through so many things...

Maybe that was part of what made DC fun. I was so out of my element -- I went from sitting on dirt floors in Huixcazdha and Pachuca, Mexico running development projects myself to sitting at a computer working excel sheets and serving as an analyst for remittance data. I frequently referred to my cubicle as "soulless" and added old photographs from the weekend market to make it feel... less soulless. But I found a space there too. And had a few conversations that were a long time coming and made me feel so much better in my self designed path for this summer.

Here's to a life time of exploring!