MSc in Global (Economic) History, 2010
PhD fellow, Erasmus Mundus Joint Doctorate “Globalisation, EU, Multilateralism”
I have worked in a number of roles throughout my life; promotion jobs, supply chain management in a global corporation, managing an art gallery, organising conferences in the oil and gas sector… All of these jobs made me realise what I did not want to do in my life. That’s why I now feel confident that my career path is something that I chose for myself, after careful consideration and based on experience, and not something I fell in for a reason of path-dependency or lack of options.
I am doing a PhD in climate ethics. It was a dramatic change in topic from anything I’ve done in the past. My program is international. I spent the first year in Rome, my second year in Brussels. Right now I live in New York / Boston. I have one more year to go, so my day-to-day routine is working from home on my thesis. I like to think of this work like Woody Allen’s movies; when editors or writers work from home or in coffee shops, have time in the middle of a working day for a walk in Central Park or an afternoon movie. I love this lifestyle.
After I finish my dissertation, I’d like to continue with a career in academia. Yet, I know that it can be flexible. Recently I did a great internship in sustainable development with the United Nations headquarters here in New York, and I found out about many opportunities to get involved with their work. Maybe I could combine consulting with an academic career in the future.
When I started at LSE, I thought I wanted to graduate to a ‘normal’ job in finance or consulting, be ambitious and make money. I was certain I wasn’t going to apply for a PhD. It took me a year to realize that what I wanted was the opposite. Changing my plan was the best thing I could do, especially in the context of a global financial crisis at that point. I would advise LSE students not to be afraid to change plans. Life does not always go as we intend it to.