Can you please tell me about yourself. Where are you from, what do you do?

I’m Meera. I currently work for [the] not-for-profit organization World Education Services (WES). We help international students, immigrant professionals and refugees with their educational or professional goals. We have operations in the US and Canada. For anyone migrating into these countries we are their first stop. We offer credential evaluations, advice on migration, and more.

I am from Southern India. I moved here close to a decade ago now. I moved here for school and fell in love with the city and stayed on. [That’s a bit about me.] I have a lot of extended family in New Jersey but I live in the city.

Which programs did you take in NYU and when did you graduate?

I graduated from the games for learning (G4L) program in 2015. I was part of the first cohort of students. I think DMDL was an established program at the time and G4L was just starting out. I found the program to be experimental and I loved being part of it. Outside of G4L, I also took a few courses in statistics and entrepreneurship.

Do you have any other educational background.

Oh yeah, sure! Prior to my master’s I thought I wanted to be an artist so I went to an art school – School of Visual Arts here in the city. I wanted to have a viable career even as an artist so I pursued advertising and design. One of my internships, my final year at college I worked for an educational non-profit called iMentor. The organization’s headquarters is in the city but they have national operations and work with schools across the country. What they do is connect a successful professional with a high school student who is a first-generation learner. My experiences at iMentor piqued my interest in education non-profits and exposed me to how you can contribute to someone’s advancement in education. That led me to a career as a teacher for a few years. And then here I am working for WES after a few experiences at other non-profits in the city.

Where did you teach?

At the time, I realized I could not teach in this country because you need certification or an education degree. So I returned to India to teach. There are less stringent laws around teaching at private schools [in India]. So I returned to India and taught at an IB (International Baccalaureate) school for a year. And the IB school was funding a community school, a school for underprivileged kids from neighboring villages. I worked there for two years. That exposed me to how technology can be leveraged to scale access to education for minorities and how we can think about increasing efficiency for social impact programs. I thought if I were to pivot my career I need a sound background in technology and gain an understanding of how technology is used in education. So that led me to G4L; I thought the program was highly experimental and I was excited to be part of the cohort .

What was your goal for pursuing G4L?

I don’t think I fully understood the significance of what I wanted to do upon graduating from NYU. But I knew I wanted to have a purposeful career and work towards making an impact in the field of education, particularly K-12. G4L was a great introduction to that space. But I think my experiences at NYU, both at G4L program but also [through] taking classes at NYU Stern School of Business uniquely positioned me to think about sociology, business and the use of technology to make a difference. It was more important to me to work in an interdisciplinary field. At first I thought I wanted to pursue research but I quickly realized that while I enjoy research and the process that it entails, I didn't want to be an academic. It’s funny how what you pursue can also be a process of elimination and help you refine your professional goals.

You said you are working at World Education Services. What is your position there?

When I first began as an instructional designer, I was part of the training program where our in-house subject matter experts on international education, mobility, migration, and workforce development, were imparting their knowledge to our business to business customer clientele and also to our customers directly. So I was part of the curriculum design team working towards disseminating knowledge . Out of necessity, I quickly transitioned to interaction design because at the time we were redesigning the organization’s website. Fast forward a few years, I now lead user experience and user research. We have a suite of digital products and services.

How you find your current job?

I applied to several positions in the months leading up to my graduation. My goal was to apply to 100 positions. I know that sounds like a lot but as a fresh graduate, I think it is important to experiment and learn about varying disciplines. But I applied to only 30 and I was in the process of interviewing at a few places. Within a few weeks, I found this job through an alumni who graduated from the same program. She was pursuing her PhD and was leaving the company and so it was a perfect fit.

How did your schooling at NYU help you in your current position?

I think NYU exposed me to a lot of opportunities particularly experiences presented to me by my professors. I loved working with Dr. W. Russell Neuman. At the time he was launching a blended learning course for NYU undergraduates. It exposed me to curriculum design and it was a pure pleasure working with him and his team. Also G4L program in particular honed my research skills and my courses at the NYU Stern School of Business fueled my understanding of what it takes to run a business. While I work for an organization that has a non-profit status we are very much a social enterprise and I think my experiences at NYU has shaped what I do here.

Were you lacking in any information or skills when you started your job. If you were, what was it and how did you learn it?

Given my professional background, where I jumped around a lot, I knew that I wanted to be working in an interdisciplinary field. However, when seeking employment I found that the position often dictates certain responsibilities and I lacked technical skills. In hindsight, I did not spend enough time on coding or production courses at NYU because I was drawn to literature research. My design skills were not all that powerful, so to speak, so I had to learn quickly on the job. I must say, formal education or a university degree gives you credibility and then informs your thinking about how you would go about conducting yourself culturally and professionally. I wish I had spent more time outside of the program. I should have gone out there and spoken with start-ups, non-profits or corporations and told them [to] give me a project that they were struggling with so I could use a real-world problem for my thesis. I wish I’d brought back projects from the real world to the classroom and ideated with my peers and professors.

Have you remained in contact with any members of faculty or students from the G4L or DMDL program?

Not as much as I would have liked to. I was invited to the recent career expo at MAGNET a couple of months ago. It was exciting seeing all the students there, hearing about projects they were working on. I am in correspondence with Prof Maaike Bouwmeester and Prof W. Russell Neuman, and a few members from my class but not nearly as much as I would have liked to.

Has contact helped you with your career goals or other support or is it just nice to remain in contact?

I think it's nice to have (contact). I don’t think I fully leveraged their [NYU ECT’s] expertise. That’s something I should have done more of. My career is leaning towards product design and leveraging technology to scale a business. In that sense I think it has taken me away from the core of the G4L program.

Do you have any advice for those in middle or about to begin pursuing their degree in this program?

Definitely spend more time outside of the program. This is how networking has been successful for me and I continue to do it passionately: I would say, talk to experts and people you admire. Read about literature that people have authored. People are very generous with their time and eager to talk to individuals with shared interests. I connect with people on LinkedIn and I’ve learned more from experts that are five years ahead of me than I have through pure trial and error at my current job. So I would definitely recommend networking more and thinking about learning from someone else’s experiences.

Any other thoughts or reflections that you would like to share?

Personally as an immigrant, and given the current political rhetoric, I constantly think about how each of us can be more generous, kind, or more present. I would just say, exhibit all these qualities that make you better and surround yourself with intellectuals and people who bring you pure joy. As for one’s professional goals, even if someone is not analytically inclined, at the end of the day, whatever you want to pursue in terms of career, for me it has come in handy [to] talk about narratives, talk about social impact but back it up with numbers. If anyone is interested in working for corporations or has an inclination to work in the business space definitely have an understanding of the numbers.