Bryn Mawr Moments

First, a special thank you to Shar for inviting me to blog here at "Life After Bryn Mawr'. I'm interested to see where this blog goes and happy to be part of the process.

My name is Jennifer Grackin Steinberg. I was in the class of 2001 and a political sciene major at Haverford. After the Mawr, I went to work for a big bank in Delaware. I stayed there for almost five years doing my part to keep the credit boom of the early 21st century going. I foresaw the crash of the real estate market/mortgage meltdown in 2006 when I was doing lending and I'm still not sure how the guys at the Fed didn't see it coming. Maybe they should have asked humble bank drones who bombed Econ what they were seeing.

When my daughter was born in 2006, I intended to take a 6 month hiatus and find new work. That deadline passed almost two years ago but I've honestly, never been happier. I'm finally writing again, I've been able to take a leadership role in a local women's group, and I'm trying to be active in politics. That and every morning, I wake up happy and excited to see what we're going to do next. I'm even dreaming about starting my own business (I love to find interesting gifts for people and plan special outings - Maybe I could do that as a career?)

And then there are the "Bryn Mawr Moments" - like taking my daughter on playdates with a friend from the BMC days, randomly meeting a member of my class at a Dunkin' Donuts in Swarthmore, and seeing a bunch of current students in a dressing room at KOP giving opinions on May Day dresses.

Please check out my full-time blog, Don't Eat Baby and feel free to look me up on Facebook. You never know what will come next.

Introduction

Hi! I graduated class of '04 with English Major and Minor in Bio (and one or two units shy of minoring in math and chemistry... yes I did wonder around various departments)

Current Profession: Administrative Assistant, Trade, Tourism and Investment at LLDC nation in Tokyo.

How I got here: August after graduation, I decided to move back to California instead of taking a 6mo temp position in PA.

I wondered around in Southern California until my OPT expired doing internships and taking classes for marketing certificate from University of California Riverside's Extension Center.

Current Job Description: Event planner, coordinator, translator, copy/fax girl, cocoa maker (my boss doesn't drink coffee), and sometimes visa assistant. Its a small office, so everyone juggles multiple tasks. I guess BMC's pressure-cooker-like environment, may have prepared me for the current job.

I live in a microscopic apartment in downtown Tokyo. Feel free to drop by if you are ever in town!