Introducing Max
Hello all! My name is Max Rajendran. I am a senior pursuing a major in Economics and a minor in Mathematics. Being born and raised in Colorado, I love everything to do with the outdoors, but my passion the majority of my life has been fly fishing. Before attending college, I took a gap year to the Patagonia region of Chile where I spent the first half the year teaching English at a local school and second half working as a fishing guide/host for a fishing lodge. After graduation, I plan to remain in LA, working in Private Equity for The Carlyle Group.
My interest in this course stems from several points. Having interned for The Carlyle Group last semester, I was introduced to global investments, with a large focus on German/European markets. Without going into too much detail, I have come to find that much of the work being done involves companies with sustainable edges, where investments seek long term gains on a 15 to 20 year time horizon. European funds have done exceedingly well with sustainability and future outlook at the forefront of their investment strategy.
My gap year also opened my eyes to sustainability, as I worked on many conservation projects around water and wildlife protection. Apart from my professional and gap year experiences, I also had an opportunity to take a DWA class in the Global Political Economy. This experience to Germany will give me an opportunity to apply concepts learned from my previous course, specifically involving current cases we studying in the GPE, such as the energy crisis that European nations are facing, as well as more nuanced theories: political structures of power, nation states, cooperation, sustainability, etc.
In terms of in-course learning, I am specifically interested in Module 2 as it looks at environmental sustainability. Since Germany is the leader in sustainability, I am curious to learn more about what the country as a whole/specific enterprises are investing in, with critical thought for the future and how to solve/minimize the problems we are seeing today.
During the trip, I am very excited to visit Freiburg. Apart from the tour of the Mercedes Benz facility, the city itself exudes beauty, from its proximity to the Black Forest, German architecture, and overall history.
After our first class session, the question of how Germany went from a war torn nation to a global leader in a relatively short amount of time continues to linger in my mind. I am very excited to learn about every aspect of Germany; the past, the present, and the future!
Auf Wiedersehen und alles Gute!
Max Rajendran
