A New Path

Hello everyone and welcome to my new blog, Letter of Marque. A special welcome to readers of Rickety Rickshaw and Shuttle Diplomacy. I start this blog at an interesting point in my life as I take my life and career in a new direction.

I graduated college in 2004 with degrees in Electrical Engineering & Computer Science and Management Science. After several college internships in IT, I started my first full-time job in investment banking at Dresdner Kleinwort in New York. Pretty soon I realized that investment banking was not for me (the hours, work environment, even the work itself) so I left that job and joined SAP in Palo Alto, California. I spent 2 great years in Palo Alto and got a lot of good Sales & Marketing experience. I then transferred to the SAP office in Gurgaon, India to start the same marketing program that we were running in the US, in India. I spent a little more than a year doing this in India, while travelling, exploring the country, and also starting the India chapter of HealthCare Volunteer. In October 2008, just a few months ago, however, I quit SAP so that I could start a Masters of Biotechnology program at the University of Pennsylvania.

When I tell people what I will be doing come January, I often see puzzled expressions on their faces. I have never worked for a healthcare company nor do I have an educational background in this area. But, I do have some reasons for making this switch:

1. Passion for healthcare
2. Wanted to work in an emerging industry
3. Wanted to use my engineering background
4. May want to work for a smaller company, many innovative healthcare startups out there
5. Felt it was time for a change
6. Wanted to go back to school

Thus I will be leaving for Philadelphia in a few weeks. I still need to find an apartment (in a safe area of Philadelphia, which recently made the list of 10 most dangerous cities in America). I have also registered for 3 classes: Biochemistry, Engineering Biotechnology, and Biotech / Genetic Engineering Lab. If possible I will add Statistics to my course load. I will also be on the lookout for a part-time job, though with 3 or 4 classes I might not have enough time. If not during the Spring term, I will try to get a summer internship at some sort of a healthcare company. Of course, I will continue to be involved in HealthCare Volunteer while I'm in Philadelphia.

I hear the East Coast is having a rough winter - but hey, I spent 6 years in Boston & New York and I still have my heavy Lands End jacket. And after a year in India, I would rather deal with cold than heat. So bring it on!