Many What Ifs in Life

I'm happy to be travelling to the US in a few week's time, just prior to the presidential election. We just watched Clinton's convention speech for Obama, which was dubbed in today's (German) paper as his third election speech leading to victory (knock on wood). America definitely has many quirks that us Europeans do not understand, but there is also so much genuine passion that is admirable. We often find it funny to try to imagine a German politician using the same arguments and style in an election speech. It unfortunately does not work. At all. When would a 50-minute speech feel like 10 minutes here? Already the term "presidential nomination" would probably need to be spoken out officially and legally and take five minutes, and be incomprehensible to 95 percent of the general public. Easy speak is not the strength of Germans. Then again, I'm not certain that Clinton's speech was easy to understand either. I know PEPFAR because I worked with the team. I know what "doubling down on trickle down" means because I have a degree in political science and economics. Perhaps I'm wrong, I hope I am. Whatever the case, I was wondering what turn my life would have taken if I would have gone and done a summer internship at the then newly-established Clinton Foundation. (I got pregnant and had my first child then instead). What if...