Seeing my fellow students bent on I-banking at the conference helped me see that the deeper commitment, whatever it is, can be realized through a wide range of professions that engage individuals in different ways. The path is certainly not limited to medicine or investment firms, either. It's more challenging to wake up one morning and clearly envision your future life as a social entrepreneur, certain you will help families but uncertain how. That uncertainty, though unsettling, is also incredibly exciting and freeing.

As I headed back into the snow on Saturday, I had walked only a couple of blocks and my mind had started to wander when a co-attendee called out, "Look, there goes another social entrepreneur." I laughed, but I took the comment to heart. I am so excited to know so many "social entrepreneurs" creating community change right now, in remarkably varied ways.

The conference opened my eyes not only to the ways I was on a "social entrepreneur" path, but how many others, too, are working toward the same mission, albeit by taking the very different intermediate steps they find personally fulfilling. My summer of orgo (though certainly less fiscally sound) no longer seemed completely divergent from a summer spent slaving in New York.

None of us have the ability to know where we will end up in 20 years, but a lot of us already know what we really care about. The critical question then becomes not what profession to pursue, but instead how, through that profession, can I act on my commitment to be an agent of social change? Even if medical school isn't in my future, I know that in whatever I do, as a student, parent or professional, it's critical to continue to translate my personal idealism into practice--to combine my individual expertise with those around me, doctors, I-Bankers, lawyers, students and more, to create coordinated and innovative programs to strengthen communities and cherish America's families.

Tiger Edwards '01 is a psychology concentrator in Winthrop House.