Congratulations on being selected as a Schwarzman Scholar! What do you hope to get out of this programme?
“I want to develop a more profound understanding of China’s role in technological development and the kinds of questions around justice that arise from this. We all know the Facebooks and the Amazons of the world, but within the next century big Chinese conglomerates will gain more market power and thereby also directly impact more and more people’s lives. I’m very very curious to see what people think about those questions in my cohort, but also in the wider Beijing area where I will be living. The second thing I really want to get out of the programme is to just be connected with young people from around the world who will one day probably all be working in positions of power. For me, it’s quite problematic right now that when I make a certain decision, I always think within my own four walls — that is to say: the European context. I think it will be really interesting to see what other people from other contexts find important in decision making.”
In your valedictorian speech you also touched upon the topic of future leaders. What kinds of responsibilities do you think alumni from a programme such as PPE or the Schwarzmann programme have?
“I have a very strong view on this that many might people might disagree with. I think when you grow up with so much privilege, a big reason why you receive the education that we’ve received, are the structural background conditions. There are a lot of people in the world that deserve to be in the programme that I just got accepted to, but weren’t accepted because of how the selection process functioned or because they were never even in a position to apply. So I think — without being too communitarian — that when young people like us have the opportunity to attend the PPE or the Schwarzman’s scholars programme, it’s so important to use these privileges, to take responsibility for the big social questions we face in society. In my case that would mean, from a German perspective, taking the opportunity to become a cultural ambassador between China and Germany or China and the European Union. And while doing so not just bearing in mind my own economic interests, but to also see it from a wider societal perspective: what benefits and harms different people in what way?”
How do you look back on your time at PPE?
“For me it laid the foundations to my thinking in a lot of different ways. It very much shaped who I am today. It’s more than a degree you do and you learn some stuff. It’s something that really shapes how you interact with the world, both in your personal relationships as well as your professional life. During my time at PPE, I could take many of the learnings I had within the classroom to the outside world. I miss PPE, because you were constantly being challenged to reflect on yourself and your own position in society, but I also look forward to being part of this global classroom in Beijing.”
