PDF Diploma in my pocket: where to next?

The last half a year has been one of the most bizarre and conflicting periods in recent years. One the one hand, everyday looked the same, weeks and weeks were spent in my room, sitting at the same desk, with the same view from my window. My life has never been so uneventful. On the other hand, there was an issue with what felt like existential importance assigned to each of those dull and drawn out days.

On a personal level, the end of one's undergraduate studies is a period of great uncertainty. One has to decide if it is more appropriate to continue studying or if it would be better to start working. Where to find a job? What and where is it best to study? How to afford either of these options? When March rolled around, I still had no proper idea of what I would be doing in September or where will I end up. Although I was fairly certain I was not ready to say goodbye to student life, all my applications for masters were still out there with no firm replies.

On a greater scale, of course, the world didn't know what state it would be in come September either, which made any sort of planning for this next grand chapter of my life so much harder.  I was at home having to leave most of my belongings in the UK with no way of knowing when I will get them back. I had to adjust to an entirely different way of assessment for my final year exams. The burden was only eased by the knowledge that everyone around me dealt with the same problems and everyone was helping each other.

Now, looking back at this stay-at-home era just before I move out of my hometown yet again, despite the remaining omnipresent uncertainty, I feel some small sense of relief. Exams are finished, graduation day has come and gone and I finally have an idea of what's coming next. After being taken aback by the intricacies and importance of international law which I first studied at Cambridge, I decided to study this area of law in more depth at the graduate level by getting a masters in the law of armed conflict and human rights at the Geneva Academy of  International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights. There I will get to study modules like weapons law or Islamic law of armed conflict, attend military briefings and live in a vibrant city full of HQs of international organisations I admire. I have some ideas regarding potential career paths but I remain open to wait and see what's out there after I get to Geneva.

To anyone who's reading these blogs, I hope they have been of some use and you enjoyed following my Cambridge experience.

 

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