The past five months have been a whirlwind! I finished classes in December and received official recognition of graduation in January. With that said, I’m proud to share that I graduated Magna Cum Laude with a BSBA from Boston University. Aside from interning at a management consulting firm in Boston, I have been travelling a bit, catching up with friends, and using my new free time to find a full-time job. Initially, I had not planned to graduate early as I thought I wanted the full four-year college experience. However, in late September/early October, I realized I would be fulfilling my Finance and Law concentrations as part of my Business Administration degree that December.
Although I could have picked up a third concentration, pursued a minor, or taken interesting courses, I felt I needed a break from the stress of academics. With my decision made, I quickly got started on researching various travel trips, and stumbled upon a really cool adventure and service trip to Nepal with VoluntEARS (VoluntEARS.info). I looked at the online itinerary and was sold! The organization had exactly what I was looking for: a balance between exploring the country and volunteering at a local deaf school in Pokhara. With my first trip booked, I spent the rest of the fall semester finishing up my academics and extended my internship to May. I knew I was going to have a lot of free time and wanted to fill it up as much as possible. With my extension, I would be able to continue gaining professional experience and learning more from my colleagues. Additionally, I was fortunate enough to have a boss who allowed me to have a flexible schedule that worked perfectly with my trips.
Graduating early is something I do not regret. I gained a wealth of knowledge from my amazing professors at Questrom, studied abroad, made friends from all over the world, joined a business fraternity, and much more. Although my experience was not typical, I feel as if I came full-circle, with developing greater self-confidence and discovering my interests. I was ready to begin the next chapter. The only downside was having to give up my gorgeous BU apartment overlooking the Charles River and having to move back home. Although free food and rent is nice!
Since finishing school, I have embarked on two international trips to Nepal and Costa Rica. I have trekked the Himalayas, Mount Everest, volunteered at a Nepali deaf school, zip lined across the longest zip line in Central America, had my wallet and camera stolen in Costa Rica, and got bit by a stray Costa Rican cat. Fun stuff! And the adventure isn’t even over yet! I’m ditching Boston once again and heading to Southeast Asia to backpack Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. If anyone knows me, I overpack like crazy, so living out of two backpacks for the next few months is going to be very interesting!
Deafinitely Thriving 