Bio : Antonio a 22 ans, il est étudiant @ECO. Antonio est né à Castellón de la Plana, en Espagne. Il a obtenu sa licence en histoire et économie à l'université d'Édimbourg, en Écosse.
"I was born in Castellón de la Plana. It is a city roughly twice the size of Bruges, north of Valencia. There I went to a British school, because my parents decided it would be a good idea to learn English from early on. It was a nice place to grow up. I could not have asked for a better childhood. From early on, I already sort of knew that I wanted to go abroad for my studies. At around the age of 16, I made up my mind that I wanted to go abroad for my bachelor's. So I ended up going to the University of Edinburgh, in Scotland. There I did my bachelor's in history and economics. I was mostly interested in more of the humanities and the social sciences, such as philosophy, history, and politics. But I felt that I had to somehow also earn a living and somehow make some money. That is where the economics comes in. Quite frankly, I found that to be a very good mix. On the one side: History, to fulfill my genuine intellectual curiosity, and on the other side: economics, to have a technical edge of some sort.
I had a great time in Edinburgh. It felt like a second home to me. It's a great city. I have been choosing my cities very wisely, both Bruges and Edinburgh are very nice cities, very nice student-friendly cities. Edinburgh was like a regular big university. I lived half an hour away from campus and the campus itself was very dispersed around the city. You never felt to be part of a community like you have here, at the College. There was no bubble there. The strength, I guess, the ties of this community are a lot stronger here. So, it does feel very different. One thing I have, is that I like to go beyond academics and that I am really into student societies. I have come to the right place. I really like engaging with that. Not just sticking to the textbook but applying what I am learning. Both in Edinburgh and out here at the College, I am very, very involved with that.
I have always had my eye on the future, so for the last two years in Edinburgh, I was already thinking through different options, and the College was one of the main ones. I heard about the College the day of my 20th birthday. At that point, I was considering the diplomatic career, joining the Spanish Foreign Office. At some point, the Spanish Consulate General to Edinburgh had come to give a talk at the University. I reached out to him, and I asked him if I could get a coffee at some point with him. And he invited me over to this reception at his home. That is where he told me he was a College alumnus and that if I was interested in European affairs, it really is the place for me to be. I also talked to someone from the previous promotion on the phone, and he did tell me it is a very intense experience, and he sort of did describe what the College is like, but you cannot really imagine. It was only during the intro weeks that I could really tell, okay, this will be intense. You are constantly surrounded by people. There is a lot of work to be done. There are a lot of student initiatives that you can join, and I am super happy with that. I am lucky in the sense that Mata-students, at least for Mata-Eco students, do not have that many credits this semester, so that is giving me a lot of time. And in a way, it is letting me pursue all these side interests.
Next year, Mata-Eco will lead me to the United States. The first semester will be at Fletcher in Boston, the second, hopefully, in Washington. But I will have to search for an internship. My plan is to go to Washington, but we will see. Washington will surely be an interesting place to be right now. This is something I have spoken about with some of my friends, not only in terms of transatlantic affairs, but also European affairs. A lot is going on in the U.S. and in the world. We do seem to be at some sort of crossroads. I feel the decisions we are taking for these next five years are really going to set us on a course. It could be for the better, or for worse. That is why we must take the right decision. Interesting times. Europe must stick together and abandon some of our old naivete. We must face that this can be a rough world and that we really must get our act together. We must rely on partnerships. We really must prioritise, I guess, our internal strengths, our competitiveness, if we want to then have anything to say globally. But my feeling is that the priorities, at least at a rhetorical level, are right. Now it is merely about delivering. It is a big step. But at least it appears as if, yes, we have woken up. Geopolitically we are in a tough spot. Now it's about delivering. We must feel European and act European, and until we do not have that solidarity link, we will always look first for our nations, which is legitimate. I guess you do need to feel as close to, in my case, an Estonian, as I do to someone from Galicia. Until that is not the case, it will take a lot longer to act globally. It is not going to be easy.”
Bio : Sarah a 24 ans, elle est étudiante @ECO. Sarah est libanaise, elle est née et a grandi à Bruxelles. Sarah a obtenu sa licence en ingénierie commerciale à l'Université catholique de Louvain, puis son master à la Louvain School of Management. Sarah a également rejoint l'équipe chargée de la diversité et de l'inclusion du Conseil de l'UE.
“My parents are from Lebanon. My father came to Brussels to do his studies, and my mom came along after. So, I was born and raised in Brussels, but I am 100% Lebanese. I am very attached to Lebanon, but at the same time I also feel Belgian, so I am in the middle of both.
In Brussels I did my high school in Collège Saint-Michel in Etterbeek. That was very nice, I really liked it. I still have some good friends from there. After that, I did business engineering in Louvain-la-Neuve in UCL, so I did my bachelor, and then I did my master's also in Louvain-la-Neuve, at Louvain School of Management, with a major in innovation management. I also did a six-month exchange programme in Singapore. I really liked Singapore, it was very hard study-wise, but at the same time it was amazing, I got to travel a lot, I got to discover so many people, which I really liked.
Then I finished my master's, and I did my thesis on gender. I focussed on the barriers that women face when willing to achieve a CEO position in Belgian organisations. It was super interesting, I got to talk with a lot of CEOs, male and female, and I like to think that I got a good understanding of the barriers. After this, I got accepted into an internship in AXA Paris for six months. During this internship, I applied to all the traineeships: Schumann, Blue Book, ... I had a response from the diversity and inclusion team of the Council of the EU! I did my interview, and I got in, and for me, it's the best experience of all: my team was amazing, I got to work on a lot of things that were so interesting to me, and I learned a lot! If you ask me right now where I want to be, I will say in this team. During that internship, I applied for the College.
I heard about the College through my sister. I was telling her that the private sector felt a bit too intense for me, and I did not like the objectives of it. And she just said: “Maybe you should try public! And because you don't have any EU experience, and you want to work for the EU, maybe you should try to find a new master where you can specialise in that!” My sister is always pointing me in directions. After this, I will once again try to get into the Council of the EU because it feels like it is the best institution for me. It's the smallest one out of the three in Brussels, but also because I know how it works and I really like the fact that it's rotating, the way the presidencies are rotating. You get a new and different dynamic team every six months.
At the College of Europe, I’m studying public economy and public analysis. For my thesis, I am analysing the gender pay gap in the 27 countries. I am analysing public policies, which has this mathematical and statistical part that I really like. I love my study track! And I also love the friendships that I made here. All the activities here prove to be very rewarding.”
Bio : Marcell a 22 ans et est étudiant @ECO-EPPA. Il est né à Budapest, en Hongrie, mais a grandi à l'étranger. Marcell a vécu dans de nombreux pays, tels que la Slovénie, la Pologne et le Japon. C'est pourquoi il a fréquenté des écoles internationales (et possède un accent américain remarquable). Pour ses études de premier cycle, Marcell a étudié la politique et les relations internationales à Queen Mary, à Londres.
“The College interested me because it gives me the opportunity to study economics from a political perspective. That has always interested me during my politics studies, but I never had the opportunity to dive into more. That’s why I choose the EPPA - public policy analysis track. This checks all the boxes for me.
I have been here for almost two weeks now and I must say that I think Bruges is beautiful. I love it. This is a huge change for me however, because I have gotten used to living in big cities. It's calm and peaceful here, which is a refreshing change. This will be perfect for me to spend the year focusing on my studies and my career. I speak a little bit of French, so I’m going to do some classes to improve that a bit.
I expect the year to be intense but highly rewarding. And I feel like I have already gotten that from these first two weeks because I have already met so many people and done so many things. I think this year is going to be crazy, but I am really excited to see what it will bring.”
Bio : Silvia a 23 ans, elle est étudiante @ECO. Silvia est née à Valence, en Espagne. Elle a étudié le commerce international à l'université de Valence et à l'université Nottingham Trent, au Royaume-Uni. Silvia a obtenu un master en économie et finance à l'université de Navarre, à Pampelune, en Espagne. Silvia est représentante des étudiants Eco, elle fait partie de la Spanish Society et du BRIEF, et elle réalise le projet Capstone pour la BEI.
“I grew up in Rocafort, in the north of Valencia. I went to a public school that was in the countryside. My upbringing there was so peaceful; it was all about enjoying nature and sun. I started playing piano and joined the music school of Rocafort, where I took up playing the saxophone as well. Afterwards, I went to the conservatory to improve my musical skills, this time only focusing on piano. Then I took on the International Baccalaureate in Valencia and that’s where I started to realize that I wanted to broaden my horizons and travel more, meet new people. There were a lot of interesting topics like geography where we had talks and discussions about social matters that really intrigued me. Strangely enough, I took the scientific path, with maths, chemistry and physics, but I felt it wasn’t my path to follow, so for university I switched to international business. The first two years of university were done in Valencia and for the last two years I went to Nottingham Trent University in England. That was a very nice experience, it was like an Erasmus programme, but an extended one! Pretty soon already I felt like I wanted to focus less on business and more on economics. So, after those four years, after Nottingham, I started my master’s in economics and finance in Pamplona, Spain. That was hard, and theoretical as the approach of the master was kind of a preparation to pursue a PhD. And although I learned a lot in economics, which was what interested me, I wasn't sure if I wanted to pursue a PhD right after; though it's something I still don't rule out for the future.
When I was doing my curricular internship in Littlefish UK, I started looking into what I wanted to do next; I gathered information, I searched LinkedIn, and came across an appealing post... that is how I found out about the College.
So far, life at the College has been good. Here, I have interaction with a larger variety of people; because we spend more time together at the canteen and residences. In that aspect, it is definitely richer.”
Bio : Matthew a 23 ans et étudiant @ECO. Il est né à Galway, sur la côte ouest de l'Irlande. Matthew a étudié les mathématiques financières et l'économie pendant quatre ans à Galway. Au cours de l'été 2023, Matthew a travaillé à l'ambassade d'Irlande à Washington D.C.
“I was born and raised in Galway, which is a coastal city in the west of Ireland. It is generally quite cold and wet, so I am used to the Bruges weather. I would say that I had a very active childhood there. We were outside all the time, playing football, sometimes hurling, which is a very popular sport in Ireland. Galway was a great city to grow up in. We even have some great beaches, even though it is not sunny very often. The city is quite similar to Bruges, similar size, cobblestone streets, ... Bruges already feels like a home away from home in that sense.
From a young age, I always had an interest in numbers and maths, in particular. That is what led me to study financial maths and economics for my undergraduate degree in university. I soon discovered I preferred being able to practically apply what I learned, which was the reason I choose the master's in economics instead of sticking with pure maths. Economics was something that I could apply in the real world.
I heard about the College while working at the Irish embassy in Washington D.C. We did a lot of work there with the EU delegation, which is just up the road from the Irish embassy on Massachusetts Avenue in D.C. I was struck by the proportion of staff there that had attended the College and that is what led me to consider and look into studying here. I was in Washington with the Washington-Ireland Programme, which is a fantastic programme. There are 15 people from Northern Ireland and 15 from the Republic of Ireland on the class each year. Some of the other people who have done that programme are Leo Varadkar (former Taoiseach/Prime Minister of Ireland), Claire Sugden (who was appointed at the age of 29 as Northern Ireland’s Minister for Justice) and Emma Little-Pengelly, who is the deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland. Three out of the eight Irish students in this year’s promotion have taken part in that programme. For me it was a life-changing experience, and it led me to discover the College.
Life at the College has been great so far. It is great meeting all the new people, all the new staff, all the new lecturers, making new friends, taking part in new activities. It is very busy; it is very intense. But I expected that, I had been warned well in advance by people who had been at the College before. I was prepared for that. And it is a positive thing for me, I am kind of thriving under the intenseness. It is a different kind of experience for me, however. During my university studies in Galway, being from Galway, I lived at home. So, living the student life the way we do here, is new to me and I am very excited about it. It opens my eyes, broadens my horizons. What I try to keep doing here, is teaching maths classes. I taught maths classes throughout my undergraduate degree to people in high school in Ireland. It’s online, so I will try to keep that up. It allows me to take some time for myself and it is something that I really enjoy doing. I do it because I like teaching, I like helping other people. It is one of the reasons that I put myself forward as a student representative, I enjoy helping and working with people.”
Bio : Miranda a 22 ans, elle est étudiante @ECO. Miranda est née à Valence, en Espagne. Miranda a étudié l'économie générale à l'Universitat de València et a participé au programme Erasmus à l'Université de Lille, en France.
“I would describe myself as a very ‘mediterranean person’. I love the mediterranean way of life, enjoying small things, basking in the sun. Something I surely miss around here. I am also very passionate about languages and especially about Chinese. For next year I am thinking about going to China to learn more about the Chinese and Asian culture and language, to dive right into it. I am really looking forward to spending time in Asia, even though it is not what everybody expects me to do next year. But after that I will be back of course, back to Brussels or to Europe at large.
I was born and raised in Valencia. I had a happy sun-soaked childhood there; the beach is my go-to place to relax, to have fun, to just sunbathe. I love to play volleyball as well and other sports, like running on the beach or basketball.
I studied economics in Valencia, and I did my Erasmus in Lille, because I wanted to learn French. Well, to be honest, I wanted to, but I was forced to. Because, at first, in my learning agreement, I had so many subjects in English, but when I got there, they told me that everything was in French, so I had no choice but to learn it. That was very challenging, but, as they say, it is the best way to learn a language. I also chose Lille because there was only one spot available, for one student, from my university, and I like to go to places by myself, to really get out of my comfort zone. I would say I am kind of addicted to go out of my comfort zone, to challenge myself. When I find myself in the same situation for a long time, I tend to get bored.
In high school, I took part in the scientific path. But at the age of 15, something happened that changed my perspective: I went to the United States for a year, living with a host family. That really changed my perspective, and it shifted my interests to social sciences. From then on, I realized that I wanted to do something international, that I was passionate about the European Union and its values and principles. I spend the year in Wisconsin, in a small town called Waukesha. It is a suburb, so I really got to experience the real American way of life, away from the big metropoles.
I have a positive mindset, and I feel Europe must make the best out of it. In any case, I think in any situation the European Union should act together as a whole, we need to be on the same page.
The first semester at the College was tough, I have to say. Intense. To be honest, I did not get the results that I wanted, but I am going to take this as a way of reflecting and taking things differently. I will try to downsize the pressure, because here you have a lot of pressure, but I am so grateful of everything that I have learnt. But the first weeks of this second semester are really nice, and now things are going better for me.”
Bio : Rodrigo a 23 ans, il est étudiant @ECO. Rodrigo est espagnol et est né à Madrid. Il a étudié à l'Université Autónoma de Madrid, où il a obtenu une licence en droit et en commerce.
"Madrid is an amazing city. The word ‘Madrid’ means ‘water’, but the city has no river, no water. That’s the only bad thing about it; if you want to go to the beach, it will take you hours. I love the city. As a young boy, I played soccer, and tennis; then I suffered a serious injury in which both my knees got hurt, and i couldn’t do that anymore. After my injury I had to do rehabilitation things, like swimming. In Madrid, I went to school, next to the Santiago Bernabéu stadium and that was so exciting. After school you always had the chance of seeing the bus of the soccer team passing by. It was a cool place to go to school. Educationally speaking, Madrid offers everything you need, so I went to university in my hometown. However, I was interested in law, business, and philosophy. I questioned that a lot, you know, I wanted to do both philosophy on the one hand, and business and law on the other hand; combining those was not possible however – it is possible in England, for example. There you can do politics and economy and philosophy, all together. So, I made the practical choice, the one with more future and career possibilities and opted for law and business.
I went to Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, where I did law and business, for six years! That’s long, but that’s good, it gives you strength. Especially when having doubts about the future, it gives you force, and time to focus because you still have time before you leave university, to get things done.
During my fourth year I did an Eramus to Coventry, England. It was industrial, and dodgy, but I loved the experience. It was right after Covid, so at first, I travelled around England and then settled in. Coventry really is a university town. If you went to a bar, there was a student you knew working the bar there; if you had lunch, you were served by another friend from class. The students made the city. Strange, but I loved it. And very international.
When doing an internship at a law firm in Madrid, my boss talked to me about the College. That is how I first heard about it. When you are into law and competition, you must go to Brussels, and you will hear about the College. And now I am here, and I love it. Intense, but I love it. It’s almost scary how fast it is going. And I have big expectations for the second semester; I'm looking forward to continuing to make the most of this experience!”
The College of Europe in Natolin held its second simulation exercise of the academic year, transporting students to the diplomatic complexities of 1990 as the Cold War was coming to an end. The...