Humans of Haas: Toshi Jain
Written by Vedika Dayal.
Toshi Jain is an international student in Haas’s Global Management Program who grew up in the Dutch Caribbean island of Curaçao.
What made you want to be a part of Haas?
I thought about it a couple of ways. The first is through my brother. He’s in GMP and based on his experiences and the personal growth that I noticed when he came back home, I thought the GMP program would be good—especially with the connections he’s made already as a freshman. The second reason is just that this GMP program was even available. Being able to travel abroad and focus on the global aspects of business sounded like a great opportunity.
Who’s someone that inspires you?
Will Smith and his outlook on life. His thoughts on fears, for example, are really inspiring. He says “The only thing I fear is fear itself.” Basically, on the other side of that discomfort of things we encounter in life are some of the best things.
What do you like to do in your free time?
I like to make music. It’s something I do as a hobby with my friends. I also like fire dancing, specifically fire poi. It’s a type of flow art. You have these long chains and at the end they have these balls that you light on fire. I first learned about it by watching other people do it and trying to mimic it. I love that it’s visually so cool to watch. You think, how are they not burning themselves and how are they making it look like the balls are hitting each other when they’re not? I thought to myself that’s so cool, I want to see how it’s done. Then I had the opportunity to meet someone who was a professional and have him develop my skills past what I could do on my own which was awesome. It’s really fun to perform for my family and friends now.
What’s it like having grown up in Curaçao and now being an international student at Haas?
Geographically, Curaçao is a really small place, which makes being in a big city like London or Berkeley a really big change, because there are just so many more people. The culture is also different. In Curaçao, the pace of life is much slower. Of course, that’s natural especially with these different places so far from each other. It’s kind of refreshing to be in a new place though. Being in a new environment really forces you to grow and it’s something I really looked forward to when I was coming here.
