“Pushing Limits-Questioning Goals” - Electrical Engineering 3 student Vinit Nagarajan was intrigued by the title of the symposium when he saw the email sent out by the Office of Student Affairs last year. He immediately set to work on an essay to submit to the symposium. Embellished with quotations from Pythagoras to MIT researchers, Vinit analyzed the need for a new economic order, one that balanced economic growth in order to achieve long-term stability. While mankind’s need to constantly better itself and raise limits was admirable, the impact of such qualities could be disastrous in the new millennium, particularly so on less-developed countries, where rapid economic growth is mistakenly thought of as the best way to relieve poverty, disease and unemployment. Ultimately, he concluded:
Mankind has a history of pushing limits and raising the bar. But discretion is the better part of valour. The current situation requires action of a different kind. Man must tread with caution into the new millennium. The frenzied economic activity of the last few centuries has taken their toll on the environment and on human society. We owe it to our future generations to ensure that no further damage is done. This will require strong political will. But as history as shown us there is no limit to the innovativeness of the human race. This trait should help tide over the current pressing circumstances.
Vinit wrote an excellent essay, and judges at the symposium in St. Gallen were impressed. They immediately invited him to attend, and paid all costs necessary to get him to Switzerland.

The University of St. Gallen arranges the annual symposium in collaboration with Harvard University of Boston, Massachusetts. Participants are mostly graduate students who are in the middle of completely a Master’s program in Business Administration or Arts and Philosophy students. Vinit was one of the very few under-graduate students attending the conference, and one of the very few students there who was in an engineering program. The conference invites essays from participants all around the world, and then pays for the best to visit the symposium and meet each other. Furthermore, notable personalities such as the President of Macedonia, the Managing Directors of firms such as Ernst and Young, Proctor and Gamble, and Duetsche Bank also attend the symposium. It is indeed a prestigious opportunity to meet and discuss some of the most important issues in the world today with such influential company.

The 3-day long symposium balanced work and play. In the mornings, participants would attend workshops and forums on global issues such as “Brands versus Globalization and what they mean to less developed countries.” In the evenings participants would relax and get to know each other a little better in the parties hosted by the university. With participants from 60 different countries, every experience was unique and enjoyable. Vinit says that the trip was great opportunity for him to meet many different people, and was interesting and thought-provoking.