And Au Revoir Bristol

The past 12 months have been incredibly fulfilling to say the least they have been full of discoveries. Of people, the Self and the World, as it should.

If I have learned one thing over the past few years that I have been on this little rock we call earth, it is that every single thing, no matter how good (or bad) it is, has an end. Everything has.

And that's perhaps what makes life all the more interesting and worthwhile.

I never planned for Bristol. It was perhaps what many of us would call an "accident". But certainly not a mistake.

I wasn't meant to be here, and by "be here" I mean intentionally choosing to be in this city and at this university.

It all happened in less than 24h. I would spare you the details but, when I learned that I wasn't going to LSE, my first, and perhaps, only choice when I was applying for the Chevening Scholarship, I decided not to take the scholarship. I got the admission. I fit the program. I planned the journey. But the programme, a 2 year MPA(funny thing I am still in the MPA groups), did not fit Chevening funding criteria.

So, I told the Chevening team to just cancel the scholarship it. I wasn't interested anymore. Go big or Go home, or... more like Go MPA or Go Home.

I wasn't going to go to any other university. So I thought.

Oh boy you were wrong. Drop down that university prestige ego would you?

But it wasn't so much an ego(or may be it was), but it was rather a set of standard. I set my self and in my unknowingness, I thought, without any valid reason, that Bristol, or rather the university of Bristol, was not at that which I set other universities to be. No pun intended.

The how and why, I have not really given it much reflexion. But I clearly should have.

My mentor, to whom I am forever indebted to, told me you should give Bristol a chance. I was like "really? do you think it will be worth it??" and added "I will just reply next year. If I got it once I could most definitely get it twice."

Well I guess that didn't happen did it?

I was like adventure it is. And there was a whole chapter I can write with my previous employer. That was another non-straightforward ending of chapter, but in the end it all went very well.

So there I was, 48 hours later, googling "what's Bristol like".

The irony wasn't lost on me. From confidently rejecting a place I'd never seen to desperately trying to picture my life there.

Fast forward

Finding Home at Hodgkin House

The entire experience has been nothing less than full of a "I will redo it all over again."

Walking into Hodgkin House for the first time I had these massive 2 suitcase, jet lag written all over my face, and absolutely no idea what I was getting into.

The tea reception with the friends of Hodkin House.

In the WhatsApp group :

"2ND FLOOR THE PERSON THAT USED THE BATHROOM, YOU HAVE LEFT..." any way I am definitely going to miss this.

But oh, the drama we had! The great hot water crisis of October will go down in Hodgkin House history. The WhatsApp group exploded. 50+ residents, one morning, no hot water, 2 days then a week, then month, then petition.

People were forming alliances. Some brave souls (don't ask me which I was) attempting cold showers. I watched from my window as Neil and the maintenance team worked tirelessly, probably regretting their career choices. Neil thanks for the positive mood, energetic laughter, and infinite patience with our endless requests.

By the end of that week, we weren't just residents sharing a building anymore. We become a community who had survived the great unwashed together.

And about communities, of which I have been in many, one thing I've learned is the following: as long as your individual actions support the benevolence of the greater whole, you should not hesitate about your choices if they support that idea.

But this section here is not about the water issue. Not at all. That's an event among many.

Rather, it is about the who people worked every day to make the experience in this house, that many of us would call Home, as pleasant as they possibly can on any issues regardless. Joanne, Neil, the Senior Residents, Samy, Meg and the list goes on and on. All the staff. I certainly can't thank you enough, neither can I fully pay you.

I have made friend and memories that will last forever. I am so grateful to every single person I've got to meet—bar none— to share experiences with, to laugh, the kitchen conversations while cooking(or not), to tease (I'm very good at this btw), and everything in between.

I have not, as far as I can remember had, any negative encounter with anyone whatsoever. How is that even possible? now that I come to think of it.

It is either y'all have been fake or I am the fake one, or both, or none. I'll take tge later. We were just all humans, doing humans things and for some reason, no negative experiences have emerged as a consequence.

Just raw human connection.

Bristol

I have to talk about Bristol because the city completely blindsided me.

I arrived expecting some quiet place. A village like vibe.

What I found was a city with soul.

The street art on the walls, the harborside, the suspension bridge, the independent cafes where locals actually talk to strangers.

These small moments made Bristol feel less foreign.

And the weather. I learned to carry an umbrella everywhere, not because it was always raining, but because it might rain at any moment.

Lessons From the Classroom and Beyond

Learning to think in systems. Can't stress this enough. Even more so with AI coming for all of us.

To make my point across what I am trying to say is, a degree is just a degree, it is not going to change much of who we are (not in a metaphysical sense at least). The point of Education is in my opinion to be able to think and true thinking often means being uncomfortable with your own assumptions.

To everyone, I would definitely not want you to attach yourself worth let alone your ability to achieve, that which you must, by your own definition of what that is, to a degree. Please don't.

I am a big believer of the single idea, that God, the universe, or any deity you believe in, will give you that which you are READY to receive. The Keyword here is READY. There is thus a need for self preparation or willingness to surrender yourself to receive that.

(Just remembered some actually called me a pep talker, let me say no more😂)

But in any case I hope you get my point.

Case in point, I am "public policy graduate" but ask me about Entrepreneurship, Business and Technology and you might be surprised

The ultimate goal of any learning endeavor is to think.

That's it.

When you learn to think. You can think in Physics, Chemistry, English Literature, you name it. At the end of the day it is the thinking that matters.

The world will somehow find the value and reward you.

When I say "thinking," I mean the ability to hold contradictory ideas simultaneously, to question your own biases, to see connections where there seems to be none. Bristol taught me to think like a policy maker.

I learned adapt as a systems designer, and an entrepreneur, all at once.

The University of Bristol Experience

My experience has been good. The learning was good. I've become friends with faculty members. I will keep up.

And as for any university, it's not only the University of Bristol, I believe the learning is just one aspect of the experience.

The whole value you get from any educational institution is the interaction with your peers, with the faculty, with people, the environment, really.

That's the one thing that I personally believe makes the university experience worthwhile.

Allow me to play devil's advocate here.

As for the education in general, who knows in the short term, if we all will not receive an implant of a chatGPT chip, or whatever technological device suits the cause, to make knowledge, as we know it today, a commodity.

But that's just me creating movies. Time will tell.

Value in the World

What is Next?

Well, well, I guess a lot.

One thing I do usually when I start any educational journey, I note a few things that I hope to achieve by the end of the degree.

And the things I write, to say the least, generally unrealistic, unrealizable within the time frame I set myself to do them.

But somehow, by the end of that journey, I end up achieving and exceeding all of them( may more like 90%).

I'm not flattering myself here.

I just want to make the point around setting your goals and having high standards.

I believe allows your brain, or perhaps your subconscious, in the background to operate at a certain level to get you what you set up.

I will probably update this blog post in the future with the actual things I have written down.

They are essentially three goals I wish to achieve by the time I graduate.

So this section is not really to tell you what I'm going to do next (even though I will also tell you what I'm going to do next).

I am going to work on my startup, be involved a lot with the public affairs and international development, but at its core, my pursuit will be to create as much value as I possibly can. That's it.

See you all soon.