Speaking, Sharing, and Getting Some Energy Back.

I had the pleasure of speaking at the Industry Networking event, organised by the Biomedical Engineering Society of Singapore (BMES) together with the NUS MedTech Student Society.

Sharing my thoughts was fun. Getting challenged by an engaged and curious audience was even better. I probably left with more energy than I brought in.

But the event also left me with a small reflection.

Experience comes with some duties

I’m not getting younger. There are some disadvantages to that - my mirror keeps providing increasingly convincing evidence. But there is one obvious advantage: experience.

Over the years, I’ve been lucky to meet people who shared theirs with me. People who gave me advice, challenged my thinking, opened doors, or simply spent an hour explaining something they had already learned the hard way.

At some point, receiving turns into a responsibility to give something back.

I don’t think this means telling younger people how things should be done. Their world is different from the one I started in, and in many areas they already know things I don’t.

But I can share my mistakes, experiences and a few lessons that took me decades to collect.

If some of that helps someone avoid one unnecessary mistake or make a better one the time is well spent.

Perhaps this is simply the next part of the deal.

I received a lot from people ahead of me. Now it’s my turn to pay some of it back.

Special thanks to Chantelle Tong for the invitation and for giving me the opportunity to do exactly that.