About

Danielle is a postgraduate student at the School of African and Oriental Studies. She has worked all over the world and studied numerous languages.

Her first experience living and working abroad was in America, where she completed an internship with Merrill Lynch. She learnt a lot about the financial world but ultimately decided that it wasn’t the life for her and pursued her true passion; which is to work for NGOs with an aim to affect policy change for the betterment of others. However, when looking at job vacancies she realised that for the type of work she wanted to do, she would need to expand her world experience and language skills.

Thus, upon completion of her degree in International Business, Danielle set out to become the person described in the job listings.

Danielle had studied Mandarin as part of her degree, so it seemed a natural progression to develop this further. She moved to Taiwan and had private lessons before enrolling at the Chinese Culture University and studying intensively. She funded herself by teaching English and learnt to manage her time effectively.  By the time she left, she was able to converse with locals and friends alike using Mandarin; a dramatic improvement from when she first arrived and playing menu roulette in restaurants!

Danielle’s next progression was Spanish. She lived with a host family who didn’t speak limited English, in a small city where the majority of the population only spoke Spanish. She discovered her propensity for languages as a quick learner, strongly motivated by her own desire to communicate with people.

Danielle’s last journey took her to Bahrain. She wanted to gain first-hand knowledge and understanding of Islam and Islamic culture, knowing that what she saw portrayed in the media couldn’t be the whole picture. Danielle had wanted to study Arabic during her undergraduate degree but due to timetabling, she wasn’t able to. She was able to take her own knowledge in language acquisition and apply it to her own learning. Her teacher frequently praising her for the rapid rate at which she was learning.

Her time in Bahrain also developed Danielle’s professional skills immensely. Working for the British Council provided her with a great number of opportunities. She was part of a committee that worked on satisfying staff concerns, she also took on the role of country coordinator for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, and also the environmental lead. She took on the roles with enthusiasm, liaising with numerous offices in the MENA region and developing lifelong relationships with members of staff in departments that would have otherwise been strangers. Her hard work was recognised by her colleagues and the Country Director, who provided the glowing reference written for her university application.

Danielle spent the Summer of 2016 in Amman, Jordan, working on a refugee project. She hit the ground running and fast became an integral member of the team. She is diligent and will strive to do the best job possible. Her motivation and enthusiasm are contagious, motivating the other members of her team, sharing her computer skills to streamline operations and increasing the productivity and efficiency of the team.

Now Danielle is back in London, having completed her MA in International Studies and Diplomacy at SOAS. She is very happy to have studied topics she is passionate about and excited to progress in the career she has always wanted.