What I've been up to, May 2010

As you're probably aware, I've spent the last three months working for Seva Mandir, an NGO in Udaipur, India. This is a quick update on how that went. If you have the time, I'd love to get an update from you too.

Lots of people go on overseas volunteer trips because they're interested in showing others that they care; most who truly care would be better off sending checks. My number one goal was to be more valuable to Seva Mandir than the cost of the airfare needed to get there.

I realized quickly that without knowing Hindi and without much knowledge of the local culture, it was going to be hard to live up my goal through field visits, the sexiest of volunteer activities. These felt more arranged for my benefit than for Seva Mandir's. Instead I focused on the areas where I had the most skill and Seva had the least. I organized and conducted two full-day Excel workshops for 15 staff members. I also taught 10-15 staff how to use Photoshop to add effects to their publications. These will help the organization save time editing databases and help them better connect with donors.

I also worked with the communications department to improve their website and the quality of their communication with donors. I designed a new newsletter and blog, and fixed some broken parts of their website. I also taught the communications and Web design staff HTML, CSS, and everything I know about usability and writing for the Web. If I did a good enough job of teaching, they'll hopefully be able to raise thousands of dollars more in donations, and I'll have achieved my goal.

For the moment, however, it's safe to say that I got much more out of the trip than Seva Mandir got from me. India's beautiful and the culture and living conditions were wildly different than what I was used to. I was able to travel, learn cooking from an Indian housewife and get a much closer look at culture than I would have as a two-week tourist. I wrote about the trip for our school's online newspaper, the CMC Forum. I wrote about traveling to a wedding in the shadow of the Himalayas, navigating traffic, and searching for unpasteurized milk, among other topics.

I had applied for CMC's prestigious Robert Day Scholarship, which covers half the cost of senior year's tuition in addition to several other exclusive benefits. I was one of 25 finalists for the scholarship and only had to get through a final interview. Ultimately, 22 students were selected and I was not one of them. Later I learned that my interviewers thought that I sounded arrogant and unwilling to listen. Ultimately, the interview and application process was an expensive lesson that my preparation and attitude need to improve. I'm lucky to have learned it while I'm still so young.

When I thought about the interview more, I realized that there have been a lot of times when I wasn't able to be for people what they wanted me to be for them: a great candidate, a great coach, a great friend, a great date. When I can meet those expectations, and be someone that people want to be around, everyone wins, and when I can't, it hurts. I don't want that to happen anymore, especially because it won't fly once I leave school; I'm taking steps to improve.

This summer I'm working for Atlassian, a software company in San Francisco. Atlassian's been profitable since day one and never taken any VC funding, which is rare for a software company. Then in August I'm leading 10 incoming CMC students on a backpacking trip in the Sequoia Redwoods. Finally in September it's back to school, to write my thesis and start applying for jobs.

I've been extremely lucky to be able to travel widely before I've even graduated college. For that I need to thank my mom and dad, who have been extremely supportive. You guys are the best.

If you're in the Bay Area this summer, I'd love to have you over for dinner, or meet for coffee. I got pretty good at cooking Indian food, so if you can handle spicy food you're in for a treat. I'd also love to hear from you, if you'd like to send me a quick update on how you've been doing. All the best, and I hope to hear from you soon.