Create Your Own Real World
I had a great experience today when I attended the St. Paul Urban Tennis (SPUT) Career Speed Dating event as one of the professionals invited to share their career experiences with the attending students. SPUT is a non-profit organization impacting positive change in the lives of over 3000 kids from different St. Paul neighborhoods, many from minority groups. For me, it’s always an exciting opportunity to partner with SPUT to inspire our community’s youth and today was one such opportunity!
The students who attended were well prepared with personal information cards; they introduced themselves and asked us questions about our careers. Some even came prepared with thank you notes! Below are three questions that stood out and one very impactful experience:
Q.1. How early in your life did you know what you wanted to do?
For me, I fell into love with tennis at a very young age, probably when I was seven or eight years old. From very early on, I was inspired to be the best player I could be and one day be a professional playing on the pro tour. My parents and grandparents were all international level athletes and so I had role models to look up to and I’m sure that played a big role in not only giving me the much needed confidence and self believe, but also the support to achieve my goals. I think it is so powerful for a young person to have positive role models and we all can make an impact in the lives of youth in our communities by being their role models and giving them the strength to achieve their aspirations.
Q.2. What is a typical day like at your work?
As an entrepreneur, I wear many hats and so there is no ‘typical day’ as everyday is quite different. However, my three main responsibilities on any typical day are: 1. Taking care of the product, which in our case is a web platform or software and making sure it is working smoothly. 2. Taking care of our customers and making sure they are not facing any issues. 3. Growing our company, which involves marketing our services to coaches and sport programs and explaining how we can help them improve their programs and enhance the development of their athletes.
Q.3. What makes you most happy about your work?
To me, the fact that I’m following my passion and making a positive impact in the lives of others using my unique strengths and experiences makes me most happy about my work.
During my conversations, one student mentioned how they are interested in marine biology, but as they learned more about the “real world”, they feel a career in engineering or politics would be a better path. This was an interesting statement that sparked a thought in my mind. What is the “real world” and who gets to define it? My feeling is that the power really lies within us; when we follow our passions and strive to make our unique mark in this world, that’s the real world that we create. It’s a big world out there with tremendous opportunities that we can tap into if we have the courage to follow our dreams and not feel pressured to walk the path most traveled. So the message to this particular student and to our youth is to follow the path you love, do what inspires you, and don’t be afraid if you don’t fit into the narrow definition of the “real world” that you may hear about as you grow up. In fact, create your own definition of the real world and change this world in your unique and inspirational way.
What a joy it is to share, learn from, and learn with the young and emerging minds of the next generation!
Best,
Harsh
