- April 11, 2016
- 10:12 am
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Quinlan Ramble Reflection – Carmen Cuadrado Briones
Atoms, molecules, particles are all small powerful units that can create the most amazing masterpieces. These tiny units well combined, are responsible of every incredible thing we see around us. At this point I wonder, if atoms are responsible of forming every physical component, what is the confectioning unit for spiritual dimensions?
Quinlan Ramble 2016. A life-changing experience…and why not, a little “particle” that now compounds me.
During this trip, I had the opportunity to get to know 13 wonderful classmates, 3 lovely Loyola staff members, 42 impressive people of 12 different firms, 1 incredible city, and multiple ways of surviving to a stressful Spring Break. Eventually, it was demanding, fun, enriching for its diversity (we had 8 nationalities in the group: Madagascar, China, Puerto Rico, Honduras, Mexico, Ecuador and Spain) and it was definitely a flexible trip under the service of our own curiosity. It was just a week, but what a week!!
Along this journey, we had the chance of having a friendly dialogue with people that hold relevant positions in companies like Adobe, Uber, Google or Salesforce. They told us about their backgrounds, how they got to their current positions and explained the aspects of their daily jobs that thrill them and push them to give their 100%.
It is remarkable how much all of them encouraged us to identify a clear goal and follow it until its ultimate consequences; in my own words…they boosted us to choose our particles, the ones that would lead us to become who we want to be. For them, initiative, capacity of listening, and team player skills were the most important virtues to go far in life.
Other relevant findings of this trip were that SF is an Engineers, Computer Science and Marketing major’s paradise. Tech companies need high-skilled individuals that can create the tools of tomorrow and sales monsters that can make any machine, gadget or app sexy enough to potential customers. After that, it was easy to understand why SF overflows creativity, innovation and hard work.
Now it is your turn SF…how to describe you?…SF gave the feeling of a challenging city, in which being very specialized is not an excuse not to be able to talk about something else; it seemed an irreverent city that invites you to disagree, to have an opinion and eventually, not to be afraid to explore. While walking by its streets, if you carefully listen, you could hear the sound of the waves brought by the wind; the water moves that graciously hit the shore from time to time in their attempt to be part of the dynamic atmosphere and revolutionary projects that fill the city.
But what do we learn from the dwellers of this setting? All these new experiences made us discover other ways of making profitable businesses while empowering marginalized groups around the world (Just Business). We found companies that honestly focus on giving the best quality of life to their employees, providing them with childcare, laundry, hairdressers and gym facilities in their own workplace (Cliff Bar). We met the best Chief Creative Officer that mankind could have bred; the kind of person that inspired us to keep pursuing our dreams, to work on our creativity, to not lose our time and to live up this short life.
But not only SF and the companies are responsible for being reborn after this trip. The Quinlan Ramble crew did its part. They showed outstanding solidarity towards me when I suffered an allergic attack during the trip. They were the ones that taught me words in tones of different languages, the ones that enrich my sense of humor; they also exchanged impressions and almost philosophical thoughts before and after each visit. With them, during the last dinner at Scoma’s, with the sun setting in Sausalito, I shared a debate about life; an intimate space which we conversed about beliefs and perspectives; goals and dreams. They taught me to think differently, to appreciate any point, even when it does not match with mine at all.
Now when I come across them around campus we look at each other and we understand it, that thing that nobody can notice. We have it, it is the Quinlan Ramble thing, our secret, and our invisible tie that has linked us. That common particle that we all have.
“I love to be where things happen. It is not because I want to feel powerful or important. I like to be in those places because there are a handful of genius, artists and interesting people who change daily other people’s life. Ultimately, I would say that I enjoy being witness of extraordinary. Maybe it is because I’m an inveterate learning lover.”
This was the introduction of my application essay to go into Quinlan Ramble 2016. That paragraph encompasses my expectations for the trip. Now, once I have lived it I would say that my best hopes were not just fulfilled but surpassed. This journey is just a particle of my soul, a step along the way, but definitely it has been an experience that has changed my way of approaching my professional career and my life.
Carmen Cuadrado Briones
Quinlan/ULA Class of 2017
Dual Degree