Externship: PWC Instills An Epiphany

"The Key to success is pivot"- Muhammed Naved Khan

For the first time in my life, I attended an Aggie Externship at one of the "Big Fours." Growing up as an Aggie with family members previously attending Mays Business School, I had always heard of the Big 4 companies and held a desire to visit each one of them. Who knew I would begin my freshmen year by making this wish come true.

January 11th, 2018, I woke up at 7:07 a.m. eager to drive to the "tall blue building." One of our family friends had worked at PWC in Houston and had told us all about the marvelous city view from Sky Lobby. Stepping foot into the beautiful building and slowly getting a wider glance of the city below as the escalator took us higher, led to goosebumps spreading along my arms.

Stepping in to check in and seeing recognizable faces and name tags of individuals with "Texas A&M University" written, brought my heart at ease a little more. I met new people, and got to know more about those who had my similar major and went to Mays Business School as well. Soon after, we were seated and welcomed by two jubilant individuals ; they revealed their background, experience about work, and conducted interactive activities with my peers and I. It was the very last activity that altered my perspective on my life career and values.

The very last activity we did was where we were given a sheet of different values and told to choose the top 5. Without over thinking, without hesitation, and with only listening to my heart, I chose my top 5: family, passion, honesty, charity, and character. I realized that in my entire life, my passion was cardiology and it did consist of charity of giving to others; the medical field also consisted of character involving honesty of patient finances and sympathy with patients and families, however, my number 1 value, family, was not strong in my field. As much as I loved cardiology, I shadowed and discovered that because this field did not guarantee family-time and a schedule suitable to prioritize family, I realized that this career was not for me.

Ever since this externship experience, I decided to continue on my management path and drift away from my cardiology interest. If I couldn't be guaranteed to have a career, which supported my greatest value, then I would not be able to be happy in my career choice. This epiphany changed my entire carer outlook that I held since the 3rd grade; I was overwhelmed by a feeling of guilt of how I could allow myself to pivot when I already planned my A&M degree plan and life plan. After speaking to one of my bestest friends and FTI Campus recruiter, Muhammed Naved Khan, I was content; he said that "the key to success is pivot"; learning and deciding based on ones values can be one of the best decisions in our lives.