My new hobby - dancing!

One good thing is about a British university are the endless opportunities in terms of student life. With a campus of 90'000 students, Manchester offers a society for everyone: the clubbing society, AIESEC, the Malaysian society, the knitting society and many more.

I joined the dance society, and I am enjoying it enormously. I am taking a Salsa Class and a ballroom dance class. After the classes, you can go for 1.5 h practice, where they just play the music and let you dance. Students of all levels participate in the practice, and that gives you the opportunity to see some real tournament dancers - a fantastic sight! I always come back energetic and happy from the classes. The atmosphere is totally relaxed, and you always find a partner (very often a girl, as most guys have been dragged there by their girldfriends and are already "taken").

So far I learnt: Salsa, Tango, Quickstep, Valse, Chachacha and Rumba. I am - mildlly said - only an average talent, but because of the frequency of the practice, I feel like I have made already big steps! The good thing though is that there is no competition or stress: One of the best thing of the dance classes is how much you laughbecause you stumble around.

Yes, dancing is one of the things in life that just make me happy :-)

Studying and thinking

Yes, life in the UK got normal for me - baked beans, student flat, dance classes and of course: studying.

It is my experience as a student that stimulates me most. Due to the chosen courses, I read a lot about about topics that are simply sad: An example are the structural constraints to children in the crack shanty towns of New York. According to Philippe Bourgeois, most of them turn into drug dealers/rape victims/violent individuals/adoscelent paternts despite them having "normal childhood dreams like becoming a doctor or a policeman. Although I believe in the power of the individual to shape her own life, the conditions make this very hard for the adolescents mentioned above.
This is only one of the shocking topics I am currently reading about. I have gained leadership characteristics through being in AIESEC, have grown up in priviledged conditions in the best country in the world, have a university education, a good social environment and much more.

I really really hope that I can turn all of these great starting conditions into action, that I find a career where I can put myself fully in and make a difference!

When I left AIESEC, I believed becoming a Social Entrepreneur might be the right choice (as business is one of the most powerful agents), but maybe I should consider working for a government? Or still for an NGO? And what is the field I can bring in most of my competencies?

Manchester: A new place - and new options arising!