Falling Hard

I fall very easily in deep admiration for people. For every single facet of life, I find people who I greatly respect and hold in high regard, and they become people to emulate. People like that, I have identified for various qualities, and they have included pastors, family members, professors, peers, leaders, colleagues. Now I realise the cross-cutting characteristic is the way in which they treat others. This summer, one of the most valuable things I’ve gotten to do is interact with such personalities, with the point of admiration being their work- which has become undistinguishable from their life’s passion, as is normally the case in the work of development.

I’ve gotten life and career advice from them, which I absorb open-heartedly and consider with a grain of salt, since every single experience is different and there is not just one path to get to where I want to be (as per strongly advocated by Anna, World Bank). I think one of my favorite ‘meetings’ was the one with Juan Martin- Argentine, human and environmental rights lawyer, Fullbright scholar, brilliant, unassuming, warm. Now that he has had experience as an academic, in the government and in non-governmental non-profits, he wants to move on to the international organizations. In particular, the Inspection Panel at the World Bank! I think that is fantastic, and that the position suits him well; Juan will definitely be the internal champion in the enemy’s camp that we’ve talked so often about.

From Andrew, Paulina and Chris, the best ideas they gave me were: how to stay in touch with and continue making contacts throughout the academic year (projects in collaboration with NGOS as a win-win, connecting for field research in Peru, inviting speakers to school); how to expand beyond the norms in the field, leveraging on my competitive advantages (researching SG-LA relations and submitting exposees, working with a Chinese mining company that has operations in Latin America!). They of course are so much more than bosses, co-workers or contacts, but rather people with whom I have spent time in the most informal settings and in whom I have gained personal friends. Florence gave me a tremendous place to start in thinking about incorporating GIS into my Peru project, based off her ecosystem mapping experience in Central Africa at WRI. Kirk definitely upped my awe for WRI, even though Aarjan made getting my foot in the door seem an impossible task… Anna and Chorching were both extremely helpful, both senior economists/analysts at the World Bank. Vinchenzo, friend for a long time to come at the IDB.

I believe that one of my greatest accomplishments this summer has been in forming relationships. Call them contacts if you will, but they have been the most genuine connections in most cases. It is of course always a two-way street, and I thank these people for being open to someone just starting out. I come back to a point I made at the start, which is that one cross-cutting element in these people is the way in which they treat others. Because they treat me with warmth and respect even though I have nothing to give, I return it wholeheartedly. And I think that is why I find ‘networking’, so to speak, something very enjoyable and not necessarily the superficial activity it often is. With genuine admiration in the mix, it really is hard to go wrong.