With barely a month left to the fall semester, I still find myself telling stories of my summer internship in Israel. This past weekend, I attended Birthright Excel’s annual conference, in which I met participants from the past four years. A three-day event, this reunion was an enlightening experience. Not only did I befriend and learn from new professionals in the workforce who could empathize with my internship application struggles, but I was also exposed to the often overlooked but important field of philanthropy.

Rushing out of my psychology class in Queens, I soon realized that I had the shortest commute. Many participants from my cohort came from all across the country and were forced to miss class. Others were studying abroad and flew internationally, from countries such as Israel and Copenhagen. My utmost respect goes to the older participants, who had to take off work to make the trip; how they were able to appear completely unfazed despite the accumulation of work that awaited them come Monday morning is beyond my comprehension.

Of course, it might have helped allay their concern knowing that the cost of transportation, hotel stay, and food were all covered. We stayed in a four star hotel, and were treated like royalty. There were a few rooms that were reserved exclusively for our meetings and speakers. To the unsuspecting onlooker, this must have looked like a legitimate corporate conference. For many of the young professionals on the trip, traveling to clients and meetings is the norm. I, on the other hand, was speechless. I never expected to experience a real business conference, albeit on a much less stressful level, by the age of 20!

An important feature of this type of conference is networking. Birthright Excel encouraged participants from all four years to mingle on both a casual and professional level. I witnessed friendly banter among all different age groups, as participants connected through shared experiences and interests. What intrigued me more was seeing younger participants asking older ones for internship advice. Specifically, current juniors wanted to learn about what working at a particular company entailed, from someone who is young and can empathize with the stressful application process.

While these types of exchanges can be painfully uncomfortable due to their obvious opportunistic nature, these conversations were extremely organic; the interaction was devoid of awkwardness because both parties had an instant connection as Birthright Excel alumni. Thus, I frequently overheard the line “Just send me your resume, and I will forward it to HR.” I have heard that line many times recently, but I have never heard it said with such a genuine desire to help. This type of outreach is invaluable for people my age because, as I mentioned before, the summer following junior year is the crucial one. In addition to sitting at mixed tables where we interacted with unfamiliar faces, we also had the opportunity to sit at tables that were arranged according to company and/or field. I called it Speed Dating: Business Edition.

Later on in the conference, a chart illustrated a breakdown of the percentage of the working participants in various sectors of business. The pie chart showed that the largest chunk worked in consulting and the second biggest in finance. Technology was a close third. On a superficial level, this illustrated how successful past participants have been.

I noticed something different. The breakdown reminded me of an article I read in The Economist about a month ago. It said that the new trend for MBA students is to pursue consulting. Finance is becoming less popular, while technology is gaining steam.  I found it interesting that a pool of about 50 young professionals from the program who are now in the business world accurately depicted this statistic on a microcosmic scale.

Having people with various strengths and perspectives created an atmosphere at the conference that was ripe for innovation. Birthright Excel identified this potential and harnessed it by organizing a brainstorming session. At this event, we were told to let our creative juices flow and to think of innovative ideas for the program and/or the world in general. I was initially skeptical. I believe that the best ideas are those that are developed organically. It is stressful to think of something on the spot that is both feasible and innovative. And yet, I was mistaken. The people in my group raised points that I would never think of. Hearing one individual say something would spark an idea in the mind of another. In the end, each group had developed a creative solution to an issue they had identified. I realized that this process is very similar to what happens in certain divisions in firms such as R&D (research and development) or business and strategy. As I discussed before, having a stock of ideas, and consequently building on it, is conducive to long-term growth.

While innovation in business is crucial, it is equally necessary to take a step back and evaluate one’s priorities in life. Working 24/7 might be efficient from a productivity lens, but is detrimental to one’s welfare. At the conference, we heard from successful businessmen who discussed their contributions outside of their job.  Philanthropy is not only a way of networking with other like-minded individuals, but it also provides the opportunity to give back to the community. Even more so than business networking, charity connects people on an intimate level. It is not simply about giving away money, but rather about being passionate about a cause. I was not surprised to see that these speakers had been so engaged; they had harnessed the leadership skills that had made them successful businessman in their philanthropic endeavors. While I left each speech feeling intimidated by their professional achievements, I also felt inspired by their altruism.

In less than 72 hours, I felt that I had gained far more than I had in the past week of classes combined. (This could be due to the fact that I was distracted in the lectures by my excitement for the weekend.) The speakers were engaging, the people were pleasant, the location was scenic, and the food was delicious. I came out thinking about how fortunate I am to be part of Birthright Excel, and what a positive impact it has had on both my outlook and abilities. I cannot wait until next year’s conference!