Alumni dreams #33

After International Studies, Ugne Mikalajunaite moved to China to obtain a Master's degree in China Studies at Yenching Academy of Peking University.

She focused on sociology and mental health issues in China and wrote her thesis on social-political conditions and the prevalence of suicide. Ugne also worked closely with social media & content marketing for the Academy.

She has been back in Lithuania to join tech company Tesonet. Here, she works in content marketing for the China market, combining her new language skills and love for content creation!

Great progress Ugne!

Alumni dreams #36

After International Studies Mauro Spadaro took the GMAT to get into a Business School and was awarded a merit-based full scholarship from Bocconi University in Milan to study the MSc Governance and International Organizations.

During those two years he conducted a 3-month traineeship at the European Commission DG Competition in merger and acquisition control and a 5-month internship at LATTANZIO Advisory a consulting firm specialized in public sector transformation.

In October he graduated from Bocconi with 110/110 cum laude! In his free-time Mauro plays Lacrosse and became Italian champion in 2016 and 2017!

Alumni dreams #40

After the BA, the interest of Benjamin Griffin 葛杰明 in politics and North-East Asia security studies led him to China for an MA in China Studies at the Yenching Academy of Peking University.

Ben then worked for six months as a graduate research and teaching assistant at PKU before following his passion, leading an education-based engagement project in partnership with Kim Hyong Jik University of Education in Pyongyang.

This was aimed at establishing an annual (non-political) Korean language summer school to maximise intercultural dialogue and exchange.

Returning to London, Ben will join the UK civil service to begin a career in diplomacy!

Alumni dreams #122

Kieran Richards graduated cum laude from the BA with a specialization in East Asia, an exchange to Hong Kang and a thesis on Minorities and Identity in Japanese Political Thought.

He moved to London to start an MSc in Asian Politics at SOAS University of London where he wrote his dissertation on The Financial Crisis in South Korea. Kieran also became a Risk Regulation and Compliance Trainee. 

After submitting his dissertation, he moved to Paris to start working for BNP Paribas Corporate and Institutional banking as Investigator for the Forex and Money Market department.

Way to craft your own path Kieran! You can see him in the picture, smiling at life with philosopher Thiruvalluvar!

Alumni dreams #125

Santina Sorrenti graduated cum laude with a specialization in East Asia and Korean and Japanese relations. She was awarded the Golden Stork Award for best thesis on self reflexivity, historical memory and post-colonial identity formation within the Korean 'comfort women' movement.

She moved back to Vancouver to join a harm reduction NGO named PHS Community Services Society, as support worker in social housing projects for individuals experiencing homelessness, substance misuse and mental health issues. 

After she moved to London to found an LGBTQ+ human rights project named G(end)er Swap, a traveling clothing outreach initiative supporting gender non-conforming individuals to access clothes in a safe space!

Next to her activist work, Santina has been a Master's candidate in Women's Studies at the University of Oxford and is the recipient of the Jenkins Memorial Scholarship (Europaeum). Her research focuses on how gender non-conforming individuals utilise aesthetics and social media to engage in gender based activism.

Simply amazing Santa! You can see her in the picture at a radio interview on her grassroots initiative G(end)er Swap.

Alumni dreams #171

After graduating with East Asia as her area, Elin Törnblom Duthu did an internship at the Swedish Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai. She organized seminars and events on various topics, from gender equality in the job market to entrepreneurship.

Elin went on to do an MA in Political Science and Development at Uppsala University in Sweden and combined this with two internships. First as policy analyst intern at the OECD - OCDE in Paris at the International Migration Division of the Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs. Elin assisted in the publication of their Settling In publication and analyzed and synthesized immigration and integration trends in OECD and EU countries!

Then followed an internship at Sweden's Permanent Mission to the UN in New York where Elin worked in the Political Affairs and Security Group tackling questions on the MENA region and Security Council related issues. After 5 months she returned to Sweden to complete her master thesis on the falling of political trust among immigrants (more specifically Iranians).

Amazing progress Elin! Enjoy future your learnings and impact. Here is she is contentedly working for the OECD!