New York pictures

Times Square






















UN







outside the Met












Hoobastank!!

High School all over again

I attended a Goldman Sachs presentation this week. This premier financial institution gave a talk on how to maximize our summer internship. Advice they suggested were pretty common sense, but then i realised most people tended to forget these things when caught up in work. The agenda was also tightly synopsized so all the important things were covered. I left the presentation with thoughts undeveloped before the entrance, hence my time was well-spent attending this event.

I know my time was well-spent, but about other people attending the event? My goal was to learn how to maximise the internship i might possibly score over the summer. Other people were probably there to network with the recruiters, so they might get a better shot at getting interviewed.

During the presentation as i looked around, almost every single person seemed attentive. Many were leaning forward eagerly, a sign that they were interested in the firm. It seemed that they were wanting to be hired into the firm.

Students also asked many questions, including the statistics on the hiring rates.

It was roughly 10%
This reminds me of a similar situation in high school.

College application to U.S Schools, or more precisely a Harvard University information session held at my school. At that particular session, many questions were asked, including the admissions rate. Lots of them were also leaning forward, much like at the Goldman Sachs presentation.

You see aiming for a job at someplace like Goldman Sachs is really no different from applying to Harvard. The admissions rates are low, the prestige level is high, the company of people are bright and intelligent, and it
attracts an astonishing number of applicants. For both, there were many people in the room, but how many of them will actually get into Harvard or work at Goldman?

Harvard will each year receive thousands of hopefulls wanting a pie of its tradition. There will be X people in the room, but only one or a handful that you can count with your fingers successfully make it to the final step which is joing the school/firm. I thought many of these kids were wasting their time at Harvard information session, no amount of networking with the admissions officer was going to increase their chances of being in Harvard.

Ditto for the Goldman Sachs event.

I remember going to the Harvard information session in high school thinking to myself " I am probably not going to go there".

Ditto for this week....unless a miracle happens.

Lets look at the realities, I am not the Stellar student ( hence having a hard time living up to my name), am not a particularly bright individual either. I have to struggle to maintain either average or below average grades, and this continued from high school thru college.

I am simply not the top, brightest or best candidate out there. I learned long ago not to beat myself up over Harvard, so why should i do that with Goldman?

All i knew was that i worked hard and got myself into college eventually. So i should work on something reachable after graduation.

High school doesnt really end.

I knew i loved you before i met you......but i'll never be with you

Remember the the Savage Garden music video "I knew I loved you before I met you" starring Kristin Dunst. The band singer sees a beautiful girl in a subway train and its love at first sight for him. In a momentary electrical blackout when they link hands in support, he envisions a future with this girl. He has never met or interacted with her, nor has he heard her voice. Yet, in his vision they are holding hands, kissing and laughing. But its not a happy ending, they break physical contact as soon as the lights come on, and she hops out of the train at the next stop and he never sees her again........

Circumstances like that happen to me too. Like the band singer, contact with the other member is momentary, it never leads to anything more. We imagine a relationship with a beautiful stranger at a random encounter but the person disappears forever. The only thing left is the beautiful memory of the encounter.

James Blunt correctly sums it up in his song "You Are Beautiful".
"You are beautiful its true.....but its time to face the truth....I will never be with you..........."

Sophomore Year

The International Students' Assembly made my sophomore year count. It is my good fortune to have been a part of such a great team of people. Though the most mundane tasks and animated brain-storming sessions, I developed and learned more than I ever anticipated. I will miss working with everyone on the executive board.

Conversational Gems I remember

WT: " So have you done fellatio?"

Me: " I don't do Asset Management of any sort"

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Me: " Hi my name is Stella"

Stranger: " Stella is the name of my dog"

Me: "And i am your Bi#*h"

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Story Series-George

Once upon a time in a huge garden there lived a beautiful catapillar called George. However George was not fat like the rest of his catapillar cousins, so he always had to eat more leaves. He ate till he grew tired and weary, and wondered if he could ever become a butterfly. But leaves were never in short supply for him. He found plants everyday not just in the garden but also in the gardener's bag that was grown hydroponically to decorate the house inside.

One day a dry spell hit, and fresh green leaves were in short supply. All of George's cousins were no longer fat, and they too gave up hope to become butterflies. But George continued to eat from his secret hideaway of the gardener's bag and his parents got furious.

"Why are you still searching far and wide for food, there is none left with the dry spell, you are wasting your time. And forget about becoming a butterfly, not even your fatest cousin here will anymore"

George took one look at his parents and turned away from them to the gardener's bag, never to return.