AW-esome, not AW-kward:
Thoughts on the Inaugural MRSD Global Zoom

“Awkward” was the first thought that came to my mind when I contemplated whether or not I was going to login for the Inaugural MRSD Global Zoom call that occurred on September 29th. While I felt it was a great initiative by MRSD alumnus Paul Calhoun to get the MRSD community talking to each other, I was worried that no one would speak up – or even show up – and that it would be a dull event.

Ultimately, I decided to at least join in and check it out – it’s not like I had any other plans for that Sunday afternoon. I even joined a few minutes late, hoping that conversations would have begun and I could just listen in. When I joined in, I saw there were about 15 people in the meeting, with only 2-3 having their videos turned on and talking.

Others, I assumed, were probably there just like me, to check out what this meet is about and contemplate how involved they wanted to get. Should I turn my video on? Should I get into the conversation?

I soon realized that this was an amazing opportunity to interact with MRSDs across generations, to understand directly from them how their MRSD experiences were and how their journeys have been since. And with that thought, I turned on my webcam video and decided to get into the conversation!

I really enjoyed the following hour. A bunch of MRSDs joined in and we started talking about topics ranging from MRSD courses and latest technology trends to different career experiences and lessons that people learned. I was even able to continue my conversation with Rushat (MRSD 2016) later on LinkedIn, where he offered great insights on topics related to my work. I didn’t know him prior to this.

As I ecstatically shared on the MRSD Slack after the event, even though most of us didn’t know each other personally, it felt so easy to discuss technology and general experiences with each other, and it was great to hear people’s unique perspectives as they’ve grown to become experts in their domain.

Clearly, MRSD unites generations of students in ways we don’t realize until we talk to each other. Hopefully this becomes a regular meet up and we can see new faces each time. To those who missed out on the first one – consider joining the conversation next time and even turning on your video. The MRSD community is what we make it, so let’s make it big and strong!