Fresh Off The Boat

55 | Payal talks about her journey as an entrepreneur working at Linkedin

After dropping out of law school, Payal took a gap year to start her own company. Soon after, she majored in Psychology and Computer Science and became part of Yale-NUS College\'s first graduating class. Although the program was small, it was extremely personal focused and enabled her to develop a new way of thinking.  Currently, Payal is working with a team at Linkedin to create equal opportunity for every member in the workforce. She specifically works with potential Linkedin Learning or Talent Solutions clients who are used to upskilling employees and finding new talent. Her strong entrepreneurial interest is evident from the three companies she has founded as well as her time working in a higher learning tech start up. Her previous experiences have provided her with the necessary skills to be successful at what she does.

54 | Yash talks about developing his entrepreneurial skills at UMich

Originally from Kathmandu, Yash is currently attending the University of Michigan Ann Arbor and plans to double major in Economics and Computer Science with a concentration in Business. Initially, he was apprehensive about a large public university but he has found that through the course structure and advisors, the university still excels at focusing and giving attention to individual students. Although he is in his first years, Yash has been sure of all his interests and priorities. As he talked about his courses, he emphasizes a need to take art and graphic design courses for anyone who wants to become an entrepreneur so that they can be better prepared ahead. In the future, Yash plans to diversify and take more computer science and business classes while still solidifying his interest in entrepreneurship and athletic activities.

53 | Lavanya explains how she navigated the academic environment at SMU

Lavanya is currently pursuing a double major in Economics and Data Science & Analytics from Singapore Management University. She recalls the big change in her life as she moved to a new country and how the freshman programs at SMU allowed her to meet diverse groups of people and ease her into her new undergraduate life.  To supplement all her academic coursework, she interned at Absolute Data which solidified her interest in data analytics. She was able to create a R Shiny app that helped her colleagues visualize the trends in the hospitality sector. Ultimately, Lavanya has also been able to participate in various co-curricular activity clubs at SMU to not only hone her academic skills but also gain a variety of vital soft skills that she would need in the future.

52 | Hrishi talks about his journey and the role of tech in society

Hrishi completed high school at the Anglo Chinese School in Singapore and graduated in computer science from Yale-NUS, the newly built campus of the National University of Singapore. As part of the first few graduating batches from this campus, he was fortunate to be part of the budget allocation early on. The access to good resources along with the required additional courses in liberal arts allowed for his holistic development.  Currently, Hrishi works as the Chief Technology Officer for Greywing which specializes in risk assessment and analysis related to maritime vessels. He works to aggregate data at large scales and run algorithms on it to find ways for efficient movement. During these times, he helped in redirecting resources to help deal with the issues caused by the pandemic.

51 | Ruhani describes her path as a Cornell and MIT graduate

Ruhani moved from Chandigarh to Ithaca alone to get her chemical engineering degree and a business minor from Cornell University. She recalls how her professors, group of friends, and family helped her through the rigorous academic environment at Cornell. All her undergraduate experiences allowed her to explore her interests and go into the business consulting space with a focus on engineering.  For some years, she worked at Arconic not only as a consultant but also in the growth and market strategy team. She decided to get a MBA to further her interest in finance and accounting. After completing her courses and internship, she decided to focus on investment banking. Now after completing her MBA from the coveted MIT Sloan School of Management, she is going on to work in the investment banking sphere at the Bank of America.