So it goes…
It was August, right in the middle of my third year of college. Economics degree: Interesting, but something was missing. To be honest, one more day of university classes and I would explode. I needed a pause. I don’t mean a “let’s throw everything away and sleep for 14 hours a day” pause. I mean a pause from routine, an opportunity to explore, create, learn and do more of the things that I enjoy, and I don’t even know what I enjoy yet.
At one point, I felt like the only thing that kept me going was the idea of being very far, very soon.
I had the perfect plan:
- Go to the farthest and most different place I could find.
- Find something to do for the next 6 months.
- Travel, eat and meet as much people as I could.
Hong Kong was the perfect fit: 14 hours away, everything in Chinese, amazing place to travel. Since I knew I’d had to finish studying eventually, I figured I could just apply at an exchange program. I would take 2-3 easy courses and enjoy the rest of my time.
Or that’s what I thought..
Surprise! in mid-november, plane ticket in hand, my plan turns out to be a complete failure. Studying abroad was no longer an option and a one-way ticket to Hong Kong went from being a source of excitement to a source of panic. I needed to figure this out, soon! I started to look for a back up plan and after several absurd ideas and other not-completely-crazy options, an internship seemed like a very good one. I’ve always wanted to see how a company actually works. The fact that I could do that in Hong Kong added a little flavor.
Little did I know what I was getting my self into.
Don’t Panic
Next thing I know: I’m in the middle of finals week and I have my first interview ever.
I carefully planned out my time so that I could study and prepare for the interview. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that somehow this got messed up as well. Of course, I forgot that there is a (huge) time difference between HK and Mexico. Out of nowhere, In the middle of the library, my alarm goes off: my Passkit interview is in ten minutes and my level of readiness is a big fat zero.
I freaked out. I didn’t know what I was going to say and Passkit’s core business was a just a fuzzy concept in my head. I tried to keep it together and play cool. That’s when I met Wendy. I honestly don’t recall what exactly happened in that call since I was so nervous. I just remember that after it ended, I had a very good feeling about it.
Three weeks later, I was on the other side of the world by myself, living with strange people and yes, everything was in Chinese (exactly what I wanted!). My first day of work, like every event that led me here, was really fast. I didn’t even have 5 minutes to let everything sink in, and before I realized it, I was already working on a competitive analysis absorbing as much information as I could.
As you can see, Passkit was the last thing I had in mind for my 6 months abroad. But it turned out to be the best decision I didn’t know I would make.
Forget About it
It was absolutely not what I imagined. PassKit has never felt like an office: interns are not actually interns, work is exciting and stress feels like motivation. Passkit, I would say, is more like a family. It is a family where the people that surround me actually love their job and wouldn’t let a moment pass without sharing that passion with you.
They are never really working, they are changing the world & having a lot of fun while doing it.
PassKit was the life slap I needed: It doesn’t really matter where you come from, how old you are or what you have done before. What matters, truly what is important, is that you pour your mind and heart into something that creates value. (Also, it is important to know your acronyms).
I don’t know how or in what precise moment I finally understood Paul’s words and stopped seeing this just as a job in Hong Kong but rather as the amazing opportunity to super charge my personal development. I guess that in life, change comes from unexpected places, at unexpected times, for unexpected reasons. But change is what life is made of. Let’s embrace it and remember that if a Mexican changed her worldview by accidentally ending up at a tech company in HK, anything can come at anytime to shake your very own world.
PFR
I couldn’t mention only one takeaway from my internship here, because there has been so many.
I got to be surrounded by people that have several years of experience in different fields, working with them and learning so much new stuff. From how to manage social media, testing new strategies on how to get people to learn about the importance of mobile marketing, experiencing the coolest beacon technology, getting a chance to go on a working trip to another country, and even talking to customers and learning where we could improve.
It couldn’t get any better for an intern without any prior working experience; to get to do so much and actually enjoy every part of it. Not mentioning teaching spanish lessons, listening and singing to Disney songs, having mezcal tuesdays, or just going our for lunch and drinks with your co-workers.
Just observing the everyday events has taught me more about teamwork, and how people can come together to get things done. Listening to Paul and Nick who spend a lot of their time trying to make everybody feel like their presence there makes a difference, motivating and explaining every single detail of Passkit.
In the end, it seems like I actually got my perfect plan, but reloaded. I came to Hong Kong a city that never will stop surprising you, I got to work in THE best place anyone could imagine and I’m not exaggerating, and last but not least I got to meet, work, eat and drink with all the Passkiteers.
It really is all about mindset and the power to propel yourself to anything you want…dig deep, think deep.
