LUC Alumni Spotlight: Hylke de Sauvage Nolting
After graduating from Leiden University College The Hague, our students spread out all over the world to continue their studies, do an internship or already start a job. Every other week we will catch up with one of our alumni and put them in the spotlight. They will share their LUC experience and talk about their goals for the future. This could give you an idea of the kind of activities that our alumni are up to!
Hylke de Sauvage Nolting (22, Class of 2016) did not waste any time after graduating from Leiden University College The Hague. Almost immediately after receiving his BA in ‘World Politics’, he got on a plane to his next destination: the prestigious Yenching Academy to study Politics and International Relations at Peking University in Beijing, China. Hylke is an example of where our alumni end up after studying at LUC.
Where did you go to school before LUC?
I completed my VWO at Unic in Utrecht. This is one of the most progressive schools in The Netherlands, with a lot of freedom for the students and a focus on the development of skills, not just on gaining knowledge. Before coming to LUC, I took a gap year to work and explore a little bit of the world. I have always travelled quite a bit with my parents, but going out there by myself really was a great experience!
How did you like being at LUC?
In retrospect, I could not have made a better decision than coming to LUC. It has been the place where I have been able to develop all different kinds of skills and where I have gained a lot of knowledge about all these different subjects and academic areas! The focus on preparation, in-class participation, the courses, the professors, the level of education and my fellow students have made my time at LUC very special. I also liked that because you live on campus for two years you get this great community feeling. I always felt quite proud to be part of this community!
You graduated LUC with a major in World Politics, do you feel like that left you well prepared for Yenching Academy?
Some things are very similar to LUC, and that is also the reason that I like Yenching: it is an international environment in which you can learn from and become friends with people from all over the world; the program is interdisciplinary, providing me with the opportunity to choose a wide variety of courses; having small classes, the program is based on student participation; and both LUC and Yenching are small-scale colleges, where you have the opportunity to get to know most students and professors very well.
At LUC we deal with global challenges and are taught to dream big. So, which global challenge are you going to solve in the future?
Looking around, there are obviously many global issues that need to be solved. I feel like having studied at LUC and now at Yenching Academy allowed me to delve into these problems even more. With my background and interests I think I would mostly focus on tackling income and wealth inequality, both within The Netherlands and abroad. A man should have dreams right? Internationally, inequality is the main root of poverty. In The Netherlands, inequality is in my opinion the main cause of many societal problems. Overall, I think I would like to contribute to reducing inequality, improving the life of people.