Marita’s Blog

My last ten months saw me go to Imperial College London with the intention of getting my act together and regaining my “perfect student crown” while travelling around Europe. Unfortunately, student-on-weekdays/ backpacker-on-weekends didn’t quite work out for me. I got distracted by important things during the week such as Cheese Society (eating cheese with people), going to West End, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as my urge to organise, namely mew (a robot-building team), Robogals (a non-profit that actively works to promote science, engineering and technology to girls 11 ~ 14) and Nudge. My studies didn’t exactly take top priority. Fortunately, I maintained my commitment to travelling around Europe, and managed to get many good ol’ life experiences under my belt.

A short list of my last 10 months abroad includes:
- travelling to
1. Thailand
: Bangkok (stopover, both ways)
2. United Kingdom
: Oxford (4 times - sightseeing, visiting friends, VentureFest, TED)
: Cambridge (windsurfing)
: Bath (sightseeing)
: Windsor (sightseeing)
: Stonehenge (sightseeing… what else?)
: Brighton (relaxing… missed my bus to Stratford-upon-Avon)
: Cheddar Gorge (tour with the Cheese Society)
: Southern coast of Wales (sightseeing)
: Scotland (sightseeing and the Introduction Leaders Program)
: Belfast, Northern Ireland (sightseeing)
3. Ireland
: Hill of Tara (my first night in Europe ever. Spent sleeping out under the stars to catch the sunrise… in December. Brrr!!!!)
: Dublin (intention of sightseeing… but was too exhausted)
: Cork (sightseeing - really recovering from the Hill of Tara experience)
France
: Paris (sightseeing, visiting friends)
Germany
: Frankfurt (New Years, sightseeing)
: Bonn (Beethoven’s House)
: Cologne (chocolate factory)
: Berlin (Heart of Gold, freezing!)
: Bremen (slept in the Airport)
: Hannover (stopover)
: Braunschweig (German Workshop on Robotics)
4. Czech Republic
: Prague (sightseeing)
5. Denmark
: Copenhagen (sightseeing)
6. the Netherlands
: Amsterdam (sightseeing, the Introduction Leaders Program)
7. Sweden
: Stockholm (aerial sightseeing)
: Helsingborg (Mini Seedcamp pitching to VCs, investors and mentors)
8. Egypt
: Dahab (windsurfing)
9. Greece
: Vass (windsurfing)
10. Spain
: Madrid (sightseeing)
11. Portugal
: Porto (sightseeing)
12. Belgium
: Brussels (visiting friends, sightseeing)
- seeing the following musicals at West End
1. Wicked
2. Phantom Of The Opera
3. Dirty Dancing
4. Hairspray
5. Avenue Q
6. Chicago
7. Billy Elliott
8. Lion King
9. The Sound Of Music
10. Les Miserables
11. Mamma Mia
12. We Will Rock You
13. Priscilla Queen of the Desert
- joining the following societies at Imperial College
1. Cheese Society (explained above)
2. Art Society (cheap tickets to West End productions)
3. Website and Software Development Society (programming lectures)
4. Windsurfing Society
5. Innovation Society
6. Imperial Entrepreneurs (officially, the VP of Marketing)
7. Krishna Society (philosophical discussions and free food)
8. Freetrade Society (to get discounted chocolate!)
- setting up:
1. mew: meeting and making awesome and talented friends, building a robot
2. Robogals: finding great people to work with, running amok in London with setting up the Robo Gala
3. Nudge: finding great mentors, Imperial Entrepreneurs’ Ideas Empowered Finals, Mini Seedcamp London (invitation), Mini Seedcamp Helsingborg, Winner Hooples Ideas Competition
- getting into the semi-finals for the Imagine Cup Photography Competition
- completing the Introduction Leaders Program
- participating in ignite: having a ball and improving my public speaking skills
- staying up all night roaming London and Hampstead Heath
- setting up my blog
- getting into and attending TED
- seeing countless musical concerts at the Royal Festive Hall, Royal Albert Hall, Royal College of Music and many other locations!
- staying together with my amazing Australian boyfriend

Fortunately, I love learning. So whilst I did lots of stuff, I also learnt lots of stuff…

From feeding my curiosity by watching hours and hours of TED talks, while reading and devouring every tidbit about entrepreneurship I could find, sometime between the Imperial Entrepreneurs Ideas Empowered Finals and Mini Seedcamp Helsingborg (i.e., in the 4 days between those two events), my thoughts broke through the chasm and I got “how to be an entrepreneur”. The whole process of setting up an organisation suddenly just seemed so clear to me, and I subsequently mapped out about 4 new projects in quick succession. Yes, TED talks and entrepreneurially planning is how I procrastinate.

I learnt that I could relocate anywhere and still be successful. For me, being successful is being happy, setting stuff up and learning. The first time I did this was when I left Cairns to Melbourne, knowing no one. The second time I did this was when I left Melbourne to London, knowing no one. Maybe I should test this one out by moving to Antarctica next? I don’t know anyone there…

I learnt independence to a whole new level. A whole new level of being self-reliant, self-confident, selflessness, self-empowerment, self-generation and self-integrity. When you’re by yourself in a foreign country where you do not speak the official language, it’s dark and you’re broke, you learn to rely on yourself. :)

But perhaps the most pertinent lesson I learnt to a whole new level is that of love and friendship. The friends I made in the past year were all amazing and marvellously fun people. The biggest shout-out goes to Hok. Hok, you never fail to remind me of the importance of friends and friendship. Thank you. To everyone I met over the past year - thank you so much. You made my past ten months rich with experiences, love and happiness.

Live life to the fullest, people!

Marita

Those with the luxury (money and an unconditional offer), pick their university based on:
- What they’ll be studying.
- What they hope to do when they’re not studying.
- What they hope to do after their studies.

They want value for their time.

Similarly, when you’re choosing between different brands at the supermarket, you are thinking:
- Should I save more by buying the generic brand?
- Why is the branded kind worth more anyway?
- Why will I benefit more from the branded kind?
- Which branded kind should I buy?

You want value from your purchase.

People are always asking:
- What’s in it for me?
- Will is help my family/friends?
- Will it increase my career options?
- Will it improve my life?

If you want people to be involved, if you want people to engage, if you want people’s time- make it worth their time; give value to them. Or to their family. Their friends. Improve their career options. Improve their life.

You got into university – check. You’re either studying something you’re completely head-over-heels passionate about, something you did very well at high school (before the novelty died), you have no idea why you’re here, but the folks back home have great expectations, or you’re somewhere in between - check.

However far along in your studies you are, be it Bachelors, Masters or PhD, the big questions always looms: what am I going to do with my life?

- Post graduate studies/ post-doctorate studies/ post-post studies… Fairly self-explanatory. Gets you closer to a life of research, allows you to research something at the apex of your field; potentially world-changing in itself, the holy grail of which is to be awarded a Nobel Prize… sometime down the line.

- Finish up whatever study you’re doing and go into industry. Bad times now, so only the best and brightest will get the coveted ball-breaking finance jobs. The rest will have to look within their respective degree-related industries to find a job that inspires, or go into teaching (a steady job educating the young minds of the future – very respectable).

- Start up your own company, be your own boss, not work under anyone else’s orders – just you and the endless stretch of horizon that screams POTENTIAL. Apply the best of everything that you’ll ever know about yourself and create something in its reflection.

Starting your own company might sound scary to you. But the short of it is, there’s always no better time to start-up than now, and there’s especially no better time to start-up than while you’re at university. Why?

1. Competitions – you can earn money just by having an idea. Imperial Entrepreneurs has just launched Ideas Empowered, a business idea competition. The competition has two rounds, with a 1500 word executive summary submission on 5 April; the top teams go to the finals on 1 May and pitch their ideas to a panel of judges/investors. Winners will receive a £3000 cash-prize as well as in-kind services and benefits such as 6 months of mentoring by Connect London, profiles/ads on Cmypitch.com and introductions to investors. Teams also get the chance to be mentored by professional entrepreneurs throughout the competition and learn essential business skills at our workshops.

2. A haven of co-founders. Look around you. You go to uni with some of the brightest technical people in the country. Somewhere you’ll find someone who’s into creating stuff, up for a challenge, or willing to give it all a go.

3. Access to tools and facilities. Campus resources such as university lecturers, Imperial Innovations, research databases, the library and free legal services can add value to your entrepreneurial endeavours from the beginning.

4. Few major obligations. Most of us are living off scholarships, sponsorships, parent hand-outs, student-loans and part-time jobs. We’re expected to feed ourselves, learn and grow. What better way to learn then to start your own company?

5. An unbelievable learning experience. Entrepreneurs average 3.8 failures before final success. Even though you may not succeed the first time, as long as you give it your all and do your best, you’ll learn a hell of a lot out of the experience.

6. There’s still time. If you start up now, and you fail. There’s still time for you to go into post-grad studies, go into industry, or give it another round…

So if you’re still unsure about what you want to do with your life, and you’re willing to give entrepreneurship a shot, come to the next Imperial Entrepreneurs event to find out more.

Published in Felix, Imperial College London, Friday 13 March 2009. (Slightly modified)