- "My decision to study at the University of St. Andrews turns out
to be the most rewarding choice I have made in my life. The MEIR programme
is a gateway to open my mind to an exciting intellectual world of wonders.
I am impressed by the friendly teaching staff for they are always eager
to answer all my questions. And the international community in St Andrews
has given me an excellent opportunity to meet new friends from all over the
world. I find the programme especially profitable in academic terms. The
content of the programme manifests a solid combination of theory and practice,
with a special multi-disciplinary emphasis on all carefully chosen topics.
The foundation courses are extremely tough but useful. They have actually
paved my way to future academic pursuits.
After my year in St. Andrews, I wanted to go further and do a PhD
degree at the University of Edinburgh. My research proves to be an extended
project of my MEIR dissertation in St. Andrews. The title of my thesis is
"The adoption of cluster strategy in building competitive advantage of nations:
a comparative study of information technology industries in the UK and HK".
I am always interested in exploring the industrial cluster building process
and its implication for policy makers in a modern economy, and now I can
base it on my MEIR studies to forward my research. I have to do a lot of
quantitative and qualitative analysis, but thanks to the MEIR programme,
I am prepared to face all these challenges. I think the three courses in
management, economics and politics in the MEIR programme are particularly
important in helping me to do my present research. They have definitely broadened
my intellectual horizons.
After the MEIR programme, my attitude to study has changed. I begin
to realise learning is a lifelong process. In the past, I always prided
myself on how much I knew; but now, I am more interested in knowing how
much I still have to learn. The MEIR programme has become to me a continuous
journey of academic pursuits, and an endless journey towards self-discovery."
Alexandra Wong, M.Litt in MEIR 2001
- " I came across a posting for a position as a researcher at The
National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University (CASA).
We are the primary voice on substance abuse and the various ways its impacts
are felt throughout society. We have released reports on substance abuse
and the US' prison population, substance abuse and elderly women, substance
abuse and international sports. There are many more. We receive letters
from state and local governments attesting to the relevance and importance
of our work. That is something special, I think. I am proud of where I work.
My first few months were spent as a speechwriter and odd-man around. I liked
the speechwriting. I wrote a speech which my boss delivered to the State
Assembly, Senate, Supreme Court, Attorney General and Governor of the State
of Colorado. I am now getting involved in some new projects, from the ground
up. I am looking at money laundering in the international drug trade, and
at the way that alcohol and tobacco companies exert their 'influence' through
donations. I like it and am excited about the work I do. The reason I am
telling you in such detail is that it would not be possible had I not come
to St Andrews. They were looking for someone who had a Master's degree and
had studied multiple disciplines in their career."
Tom Dever M.Litt. in MEIR 2001
- "I am currently working for the U.S. Commercial Service as an Assistant
Foreign Trade Specialist. It is fantastic work. I hope soon to be a full
fledged Trade Specialist. They have foreign assignments one can go on and
work next to Foreign Service and Foreign Commercial Service Officers. Then
if I pass the exam, I can become a Foreign Commercial Service Officer. Can't
wait! Hope it all works out soon. I am itching to get back overseas."
Ryan Webster M.Litt. in MEP 2000
-
"I was educated at King Edward VII school, Lytham and then
in Birmingham and Manchester. I had a 'year out' when I worked for a year
in the House of Commons as a researcher and aide to a Conservative MP. During
my time in St Andrews reading a Masters Degree in MEP I edited Progressus,
the journal of St Andrews University Conservative and Unionist Association.
I was also active in student politics pushing hard for change that would
give real benefits to both undergraduates and postgraduates at the University.
I was very pleased to learn I had been awarded a distinction. I shall put
that on the CV! Since graduating I have worked for a finance house in Manchester,
Associates Capital Corporation Ltd. as a financial analyst. I was very
pleased to find work in Manchester, which is the city I know best. I quite
enjoy the work of an analyst/management accountant as I have a wide brief,
but I have an eye to doing further research in management in the future.
It depends partly on the acceleration rate of my pay at the 'Associates'!
I have met quite a few St Andrews students in Manchester since I moved here.
Many thanks for your work on my behalf whilst I was at the University."
Daniel Valentine M.Litt. in MEP 2000
- "I thought I would take this opportunity to thank you for the assistance
and support you have provided me with both during the MEP Programme and
in my search for a suitable career. After having attended many interviews
and selection procedures I was o ffered a position with Lawson Mardon Packaging
- an international leader in the packaging industry. (We have extensive
manufacturing agreements with Kellogg's and Kodak, and are also major suppliers
to Cadburys and Pepsico amongst other international clie nts.) My role at
LMP will, at first, be to gain industry specific knowledge and skills - at
present this involves working closely with client companies' marketing departments,
internal and external design studios, ink laboratories, and production planner
s. Looking further ahead, my employer has agreed to allow me to study for
an MBA."
Mark Roberts, MEP 1997
- "I received two weeks ago the results to the examination I took
for HEC and L'ESSEC, and had the great pleasure to have successfully passed
both, these being the two top management schools in France. I will therefore
spend the next two years at HEC. Although this summer was quite busy as
I had to work simultaneously on my dissertation and for the exams, I do not
regret all the hard work! I would like to thank you all for the highly enriching
year I spent in St Andrews. The MEP programme is very praised, especially
at Sciences Po, and I will not fail to recommend the programme to my fellow
students planning to study abroad.
Thomas Kyriaco, MEP 1997
- "I want to say that the MEP course has given me fantastic insight
into the issues and topics that are relevant in Britain and the EU - a great
complement to my undergraduate, US-centric business education"
Sean Smith, MEP 1996
- "At the start of March, I began a twelve month training programme
at Cookson Matthey Pigments and Dispersions in Kidsgrove, Stoke on Trent.
This division manufactures inorganic pigments and dispersions for the World's
printing inks, paints and plastics industries. The company is reasonably
international, and I hope at the end of twelve months to be transferred
to another site, either in the UK or elsewhere."
Kim Macpherson, MEP 1996
- "How is the MEP programme this year, larger, smaller, more rowdy?
I am working with Net Market - an internet company in Cambridge, Massachusetts,
which designs commercial interfaces for the WWW. It is a young software
company, founded in Nashua, New Hampshire in 1993, by four recent Swarthmore/Yale
graduates. They achieved market advantage on August 11, 1994, with the first
secure commercial transaction on the World Wide Web (NY Times, 12 August
1994, Business Day). I am working with one of their clients, targeting membership,
on-line marketing as well as the (disparate) tasks of recruiting new software
engineers for Net Market and designing an internship programme. I have enjoyed
the excitement of life in a small firm - marketing, recruiting, customer
support - anything that needs to be done".
Geoff Strawbridge, MEP 1996
- "Since September, I have been working at General Accident Investment
Management Services, at General Accident Headquarters. I am a junior professional
specialist in UK equities. At present, I have responsibility for two sectors
of the market, as well as assisting the Fund Managers with various tasks.
I am presently studying for my professional exams, which should qualify
me as an associate of the Institute of Investment Management and Research
(AIIMR). Much of what I learnt at St Andrews has been useful in my work,
especially the Economics and Management aspects of the course. It was very
nice to finish my university career in St Andrews, which I will always regard
with great affection."
John Carnegie, MEP 1996
- "I would like to thank you for the MLitt Programme in itself, the
diversity of possible subjects, the quality of the teaching staff and the
attention you gave to us all the year long to improve our working conditions.
All these factors have made my stay in Scotland a very instructing and enriching
year, and a very good complement to my French university training. I think
that the mixing of three different disciplines is really a brilliant idea,
and one which makes a large part of the MEP Programmes interest and value.
If I am not mistaken, you aimed at giving your students not only technical
skill, but also some sort of 'vision', a capacity of synthesis of understanding
of the World's complexity that can be acquired only thanks to a wide general
culture. I came to St Andrews to get a solid grounding in Finance and Marketing,
and I got much more."
Nicolas Genès, MEP 1995
- "I'm currently working in the Inward Investment Unit, specialising
in North American business development - which ties in very nicely with the
American history/politics part of my first degree, as well as with MEP!
- where I'm lucky enough to be spending the majority of my time with the
wide variety of banks and professionals who form the UK's inward investment
community. The grounding in economics has come in useful on more than one
occasion!
Andrew J Wright, MEP 1995
- "Since leaving St Andrews, I have worked, on contract, in various
areas of investment banking and fund management, using my skills as an administrator,
and the knowledge I acquired studying. I also travelled during this time,
to North and parts of West Africa."
Brigitte Kabore, MEP 1993
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