Final Semester II

Right now I'm sitting in a Starbucks Coffee at Boulevard Haussmann in Paris, France. I bought a TGV ticket some weeks ago and will meet Peter in a few hours. But it's a pretty short stay here, tomorrow I have to go back already as on Monday I will attend the 2. Natural Science Day at Technopark in Zurich. There I will take part in a workshop of the company DSM Nutritional Products, where I already had a job interview (and they wanted me) a year ago. But back to Paris. I just wanted to have some time to think. Time to watch out of the train window, watching the autumnal forests and foggy meadows passing by with great speed. I have to get my mind clear, I want to now what to do with my future. I had a job interview yesterday at a software engineering company where I could work as marketing assistant. But I'm not quite sure if it's a good idea to work 20-30% during my last semester. I know I have not so many lectures and I could manage that. But maybe I should better use the time for studying. And maybe I even could work at the consulting company that I've worked during my bachelor studies. That would be another option which I rather might accept. Besides, I right now work at the Laboratory of Food Biotechnology in a project about 3-HPA, an antimicrobial substance produced by some Lactobacilli.

Anyway, as I'm already talking about job, I read "Das Magazin", actually a number that was published somewhen in 2004. It's about how Zurich works. How you get a good, well-paid job in Zurich. Is it always the best qualified person or the person with the biggest social capital, which means with the biggest network of people with influence and power? So I wondered about the secret of success. Thus I wrote an email to Mark van Huisseling, the journalist and columnist. I proposed an equation that includes factors like talent, ambition, diligence, social capital and luck. A well-balanced mixture of these components will make you successful. Mark agreed with me. And what did Lucien de Rubempré say in "Illusions perdues"? He said: "Unbounded ambition makes an obscure life simply impossible for me." Right.

To strenghten my economy skills I also attend the lecture Discovering Entrepreneurship, which is provided by the MTEC department (Management, Technology and Economics). The lessions are great and the professors too. I guess I learn a lot. And maybe, if I don't go into Research & Development, I might do an MBA in the future. I attended a podium discussion moderated by Kurt Aeschbacher, the famous, at least in Switzerland, TV man. And as Urs had birthday, he organized an apero at his place. And guess who belonged to his guestlist? Patrick Rohr, another famous moderator. You see, I was up to quite a few things in the past few weeks. I attended even more discussions, with Doodle founder Michael Naef or presentations of the new professor Raffaele Mezzenga at ETH. Besides, I went to eat Pizza with Silvio, a buddy studying medicine that I know from the time at the army. Or with Yu, a japanese, south-african citizen, who is also studying at ETH. Then I applied for an event called "Consultant for a day" at Roland Berger Strategy Consultants. It's about obesity and strategies to decrease the prevalence in Switzerland together with Dr. med. Markus Meier, head of Gesundheit Sprechstunde. Another TV show.

Enough talked, I'll enjoy the Paris weekend and see Peter and Marie for a drink at Bastille, eat some crêpes and just enjoy the autumn with a good book by Balzac.