Today was my first day of my Strategic Consulting Project (SCP). Three other classmates and I are spending eight weeks looking at environmental finance opportunities for a $60bn hedge fund. In this first week, we will narrow our focus down from an exciting menu of options that include water, waste-to-energy, hydropower, wind power, weather derivatives, and re-insurance. I’ve always had an interest in the micro level impact of decisions made with international bodies such as the United Nations. This summer will definitely show me the success and challenges of the Kyoto Protocol.

Having just relocated to the London Bridge area in London this past weekend, I miss a lot about my life in Oxford. This feeling of nostalgia and longing reminds me of my first summer after undergrad at Cornell. During those days I had just moved back home from New York to California. Almost all the young people in my private equity firm had attended either UCLA or USC. Work life was practically an extension of their undergrad years. They could see their friends after work everyday, call each other up for lunch, and plan weekend getaways. (Based upon the reports coming out of my Cornellian classmates in Manhattan, their lives were also sort of a natural extension of their college days as well.) I guess just right now in this hour, I just feel a stark contrast to having hundreds of friends within walking distance and much opportunity to see them.

One of my best friends from the MBA programme, Arash, always tells me that we can’t live in the past. And he’s right. My life today here in the City has started off very well and I already know that I’ll miss this lifestyle come the end of August!

I always get sentimental and nervous during times of transition. My flatmate/classmate/summer colleague, Kitty, knows this and has been such a wonderful friend. For dinner tonight (our first night together in our new corporate housing flat), she brought home some of my favourite foods. She trekked to three different restaurants to find them! Her compassion for others is truly inspirational.