Singapore...in Philadelphia?

I got an email from the social impact group at Wharton about a talk on women and entrepreneurship tonight from 6:30 - 9. Other than the fact that I thought that 2.5 hours for an event was outrageous...I went.

Actually today was a BEAUTIFUL day - maybe 70s? and sunny, so I had to go for a run before I went, but I got there on time. I met the organizer - Evelyn. She said she was from Singapore. Wow! Really? I live there!! She's an NUS student who is doing a year exchange at Penn. The next person I met was Singaporean also. Then there were 20 or so people, and I was the only white person. Actually, someone even asked me if I had my powerpoint slides on a thumb drive...only the presenters were white (and only 2/5 of them). I found myself at an event organized and attended exclusively by Singaporean students! There was one from NUS who is from Medan (where we went with Matt's family in December!) in Indonesia, but everyone else was from Singapore! I talked Singapore with them - maybe of them went to the Junior College right next to our house. It was so totally unexpected.

The presentation was excellent - actually two of them were not, but three were really excellent. What I took away is that you really need to know what you want to do - what makes you happy, what makes you go, what makes you frustrated, etc. and figure out your options from that. I have consistently felt that I need to get a job in corporate Singapore - to get experience that I can bring back to non-profits. But the thought of it actually makes me feel really anxious. It's hard to tell if that's because it's just new to me (other than Moody's) or because I secretly know that there are other things that will make me more excited. Granted I need to know what the job is before I say there is something I would rather do...but it's just a thought.

I will spend my time in the next few days making lists of things I like, what makes me happy and feel good, what makes me frustrated...maybe I'll come up with something good.

In other news - people here have been so super wonderful. Mindy had me over for dinner on Tuesday night, and I got to see Paula also. Mindy and I are the same age, and we grew up in each other's lives...but now she has a HOUSE (beautiful house and yard!), an SUV, a dog, two kids...pretty different life than me. She picked me up in my DORM!!! Yeah, I live in a dorm.

Last night (Wednesday) I went to a classmate's house for dinner. I spoke with him on Monday, and we realized that I knew his wife. We worked together in NYC - she was the social justice coordinator at BJ - a big shul in NY. They were so sweet to invite me, and we had a lovely meal. People are just great.