We have been in Seattle for almost 2 weeks and we love it! I’m just amazed at the overall beauty of the region, the geographic variety, exposure to water, high mountains, nearly cosmopolitan feel, without too little cohesiveness. It is for many of these reasons that I have always held the Bay Area and particularly San Francisco to high esteem. It held all of the metropolitan benefits — concentration of educated people, diversity, wealth both cultural and economic, and beauty of the region. It married the best of New York City in a California setting. Over the years I have grown to like Manhattan for its multitude of benefits, but I hated the fact that you couldn’t escape when you wanted to. The geography was utterly boring and the few beach-going places were packed by the people you mostly wanted to avoid. But I won’t get into that…
Anyways, we love it here in Seattle, and we have been warned that summers are the best days here, and then the fall comes…In meantime, I’m looking forward to making the best out of this place while on my internship at Microsoft.
Microsoft is a different experience onto itself. First of all, it’s a huge organization, but that’s not the obvious part. It becomes clear to you how big it is daily but the number of interaction and meetings that you have to go through to get things done. I don’t mean this in a bad way. Things get done here and people are extremely focused and dedicated to executing. My previous experience in a large organization was almost the exact opposite. At Citigroup, the largest financial conglomerates, you merely notice the size of the company by the building and the packed elevators. But, you can go on for days and weeks without feeling that size on you because most of the work was owned by no more than a few people and by that measure had controlled entrepeneurialism embodied in fiefdoms. You can get things done without too much interaction. Which is typical of a trading culture. In fact, you can sometimes get things done without any interaction at all.
That’s another reason why I’m so far enjoying the experience. There is tremendous exposure to smart people which turns not only into execution but also into incredible learning opportunities. Much like being at Wharton, while you may not always like everyone you meet, I have yet to find someone from whom I cannot learn something smart and valuable. And that’s what I enjoy.
Anyway, you didn’t fall asleep so far…