Back in Business

So, hey... I'm in grad school!

Life is going great. Last year -- the year after graduating from Wellesley College -- was a whirlwind, and settling into the world as a post-graduate is much more difficult than I had thought. My sincere apologies to anyone following this blog, only for it to be really left behind. Long story, short: "Christina made into an amazing program at Boston University College of Engineering as a MechE (Mechanical Engineer) -- and she is living her best life!"

Yet, if you still want to know what has happened in my life. Let me give you all a short recap of 2017-2018.

Last Semester of College (Winter - Spring 2017)

I was accepted into the Madeleine Korbel Albright Institute for January 2017. And, it was absolutely phenomenal. Every day was a new topic of contemporary politics and high-profile policies. On top of that, we were also pushed to conduct a rigorous case study in those four weeks. (Take a peek here.)

The administrators (rightfully) placed me into the "New Institutions, New Technologies" group, and those group partners have become some of my closest friends. We were all very passionate about this topic, and having such a great connection led us to produce a spectacular presentation(s) for the former President of Kosovo, Atifete Jahjaga, and former US Secretary of State, Madeleine K. Albright. (Yes, the Secretary is as awe-inspiring as you'd imagine.)

Credit: Wellesley College (@Wellesley Twitter Page)
My final semester saw me in four classes split between Olin College and Wellesley College: I completed two design classes that had me dive into serious global health issues, but I loved every minute of it. I really started to establish my taste for design consulting and engineering -- and such led to my own wrestling between the non-profit industry and the social innovation industry. Additionally, I became the Teaching Assistant for ENGR160: Fundamentals of Engineering -- the class I took my first year at Wellesley College. In a sort of poetic way, I came full circle in my engineering development.

And, as many of you already know or saw, my graduation ceremony was a huge hit. The commencement speaker for my class was none other than former US Secretary of State and FLOTUS, Hillary Rodham Clinton ('69). 2017 was also the same class to invite Wellesley's first African-American college president, Dr. Paula A. Johnson. On one hand, it was incredibly overcrowded but, on the other hand, the day was also filled with energy and uplifting in that 'Seven Sisters' way. (Can you spot me in the upper shot?)

Post-Graduation

Somehow I finagled my way into a job offer for right after graduation. One of the alums who came to present at the Albright Institute really inspired me with her presentation on microfinance (particularly as I had just done a mini-research paper on how mobile-based microfinance could help bolster entrepreneurship and economic activity in Cape Verde). Consequently, in late June, I began working in the consulting division of Accion International in the Washington, DC office. 

For the next year, I rotated between:

  • building business development and strategy tools in order to monitor ongoing and upcoming projects; 
  • leading the research on the financial innovation landscape in Mexico; 
  • developing a report on the finance ecosystem in Myanmar; 
  • investigating and writing a blog post(s) on the influence of mobile finance or fintech partners in Latin America as well as West Africa; 
  • and much, much more...
 I mean, despite the size of the DC team, it is a constant revolving door and there is no rest for the weary -- which really speaks to how motivated the people who work there are. Accion was a phenomenal learning experience: it deepened my love for social impact firms, but it also showed me why I really desired to be in less-conventional, startup-style work environments.

At the same time as I'm diving into work, Fall 2017 quickly snuck up on me. Before I knew it, it was application season -- and I desperately needed to find an engineering graduate program that would accept a student who a) did not have a formal engineering degree and b) valued innovative, cross-disciplinary approaches that I like to explore. I am 99.9% sure I researched every program on the East Coast and directly contacted a third of them in order to see where they stood. Those three/four months were brutal as it seemed no one would take me in the next year (the deadline for my scholarship), without me taking the foundational, undergraduate courses. However, where there is a will, there is a way! 

Fortune had it that a program I stumbled upon during my sophomore year of college popped to the front of my thoughts, and I immediately contacted them to see if they would be flexible on a foundational course requirement. BU's Late-Entry Accelerated Program (LEAP) is a Master's program for non-engineers. Essentially, we compress four years of undergraduate engineering into one, and then, after successfully completing those classes, we begin graduate courses in one of their six tracks. Adding in the fact that I love and want to live in Boston and that BU is doing a lot of STEM development on-campus and that BU's graduate engineering programs are top-notch, I n e e d e d to get into this program.

I was allowed to apply to the program, provided I take this one course -- and I promptly enrolled in my local community college, where I worked diligently to gain above 100% overall. I cannot express how appreciative I am that the committee really saw my passion for STEM and how an Econ-Art History major really believes in her pursuits. It's, honestly, a dream come true. For the first time in a long time, after receiving the acceptance letter, I let out a very long and a very, very, ... very deep breath. 


*Side note: I should probably also say here that I got into three other great programs, too, and I was probably way too stressed over (*waves mindlessly*) everything. But, at the moment, I really did think it was the end of the road. So, that said, if you're a graduating senior or a recent graduate reading this, (in hindsight) I can tell you that I am sure you will be okay and that everything will work out better than you'd expected.*

And that's the recap! Glad that we are now all caught up. Expect more blog posts from me in the near future, because... WE'RE BACK IN SCHOOL.

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