This year I have taken on the role as Marketing Director for Warwick Entrepreneur's, Warwick's largest entrepreneurial society on campus. Every year societies face the challenge or recruiting interested and engaged new members who are going to attend our events, apply to be members of our exec and learn from our events. 

As marketing director it is my role to create a strategy and campaign materials for recruitment, to be used at both the business school and general societies fair, as well as online. My campaign centered around our initials WE, and how as a society, and as individuals, we can inspire, collaborate and innovate. We needed striking and bold visuals to attract the attention of potential members and we had the exec team fully engaged at the fairs to ensure we were conveying our passion and excitement for the society and what we have planned this year. 

As a result of our integrated efforts both online using Facebook and at the societies fairs we were able to get over 400 signups over a two day period, which we are really pleased with. There is still a lot of learning to do throughout the year, and I want to ensure we can reach more students than just those we are friends with on Facebook, but with our posts consistently reaching over 800 members these will remain key for our marketing efforts. 

This summer I was lucky enough to spend 5 weeks travelling around South-East Asia, through Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. It was such a great experience to be immersed in cultures which are so different to my own and to have the opportunity to explore new places and undertake new adventures. 

Bangkok was completely crazy. It is a city unlike any other, with such a vibrancy, and a real intrigue to it. The thai people are lovely and Bangkok is no exception to this. There is so much to see, to do, to smell! In fact Bangkok really smells. From partying on Khao San road, to observing the beautifully intricate temples, to visiting the zoo or getting lost in their gigantic shopping malls. Bangkok is a must-see city to put on your list. 
The Thai islands of Koh Phangan and Koh Samui were absolutely beautiful and exactly what you imagine when you think of dream beaches. Blue waters, white sands, endless palm trees and coconuts and delicious seafood!

Vietnam is a stunning country. The people there are so hard working and there is such diversity between the south and north of the country. We began in Saigon, working up way up on trains via Nha Trang and Hoi An to Hanoi and Halong Bay. Hoi An was a beautiful ancient town and is famed for its tailoring. I had a custom jacket made. The quality is amazing and I love knowing that no one else in the world has this jacket. The town itself is also really picturesque and is surrounded by rice paddies which look stunning at sunset. Halong Bay is one of the most breathtaking places I have ever visited. The sheer immense scale of the cliff island is incredible and photos really cannot do it justice. Kayaking and seeing wild monkey swinging from vines on the cliffs of the island was one of those 'my life is awesome' moments. 

Obviously, its impossible to summarise three hugely different and culturally incredibly countries into such a short blog post. I wish that I had the time to write in detail about each place, each experience. I recorded a lot of GoPro footage too that I would love to make into a video memory of trip. But until then this is just an overview of the highlights of my trip. In order to be a truly global citizen, and especially as an International Business student, I think it is so key to have an experience and understanding of different cultures. Travelling is by far the best way to do this. 

How can you summarise a whole 11 months in Paris into just a few words, or even paragraphs? You can't. It's not possible. As I get ready to begin my final year of university at Warwick Business School I am feeling very nostalgic about Paris. What an amazing opportunity to have lived and worked in Paris for a year. I learnt so much about myself, about my ability to step outside of my comfort zone, to be independent, to take initiative and responsibility. I had amazing opportunities working with BETC and I made some amazing life-long friends.

Paris is the most beautiful city, with people who are really a lot nicer than you might think. It was really a tough year for France and particularly Paris. There were parts of the year where I really didn't want to be there. But the French people showed me how to live, how to be together, and how to continue on with their unique joie de vivre and je ne sais quoi... and how to drink red wine and eat brie at all times. 
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Instead of writing you an essay about my year (which I already had to do for my degree, 6000 words essay) I will instead leave you with my favourite photos of the year and of this absolutely beautiful city. 

My term at Sciences Po has come to an end. I wish that I had kept you more updated on my studies during the past couple of months, but it is all this studying that has meant I haven't had time to keep the blog updated as much as I would have liked.

One of the interesting differences between WBS and Sciences Po is the assessment methods for modules. At Warwick you might have one large essay, or a presentation and an essay, or just one exam, to assess a module. At Sciences Po each module has multiple assessment methods including exposés, essays, presentations, group projects and exams. So this meant that November and December I have been so busy with various projects and essays and other assessments that I haven't even had time to write about them. Here I will give you a short recap of each of my modules at Sciences Po and the different things I have handed in and achieved for each one.

Fortunately I only had one exam during this exam period in December. Unfortunately this exam was for my least favourite module and it was 4 hours long. The very prospect of this exam was so daunting and terrifying and the fact it was for the module I really struggled to understand made it even worse. I had to illustrate a map in the exam to explain the concept of my one essay, which I wrote based on one of two questions.

I also had to an essay, a 'literature review' based on 3 "ouevres". I thought this meant articles, comparing and contrasting three articles on a subject. Imagine my shock when I find out a week before hand in that I actually had to read and analyse three whole books!! What an achievement to hand that in on time and not fail.

I had to do an individual (scary) exposé presentation in front of the whole class, accompanied by a beautiful map. See example below. I was so relieved to have this module finished to be honest and I am honestly honestly not even sure if I passed the exam. I worked hard in the run up to it but I really don't know if the french method of essay writing has clicked in my head yet. 

I really enjoyed this module. Every week the lecturer invited a speaker who has started their own company and they explained their journey and answered questions. The lecturer, formally working at Disney and Club Med, was a really engaging and interesting guy (and also randomly friends with my Godfather who lives in America).

For this module we had to do an individual business project. I chose to build on my Unearth Fashion idea from my business project in the first year of uni. I still actually believe there is a lot of potential and a real need for this concept but you can read all about it on the website:
www.unearthfashion.com
I am actually very proud that I was able to write a 10 page business plan all by myself for this project and that I was able to apply everything I had learned in the module to something I actually believe in. I'm sure there are countless errors in the french writing but I think this is a good place to start.

For this module the main assessment (as well as group presentations on set topics and press reviews) was based a group business project. To be honest I thought this was a bit of an odd assessment and I feel like the two lecturers need to decide whether they want this to be an entrepreneurship module or not, because they are from consulting backgrounds, and I expected to learn more management techniques, strategic business from this module. Anyway, my group's idea was called Avenir - a sustainable fashion basics clothing line.
We believe that fashionable can be sustainable.  It is our mission to involve you in our journey to make fashion fair and responsable. We want to make the process as transparent as possible so that you know where your clothes are coming from and can see the difference that you are making.

I think this could be an interesting idea. I believe in this less than Unearth Fashion, but I think that's because ideas like this exist already and I think that there were some flaws in our business model/plan that we could have better adressed. There is always going to be compromise within a group project and I think we still managed to succeed in coming up with an interesting and viable idea.

Check it out here: http://avenirclothing.weebly.com/
* I don't own the domain name for this site (yet)

This was another module I really enjoyed. The lecturer was interesting and I liked the content of the lecture. That said, each week a different person did an individual exposé which I think it mostly beneficial to the person doing the presentation, and not so much the rest of the class.

My exposé was on Design Thinking, a topic which really interests me. I studied a module on Design in business last year and it was one of my best grades. I think its interesting how design principles can be applied to management and to start ups and can help shape and guide innovation.
My presentation is here:

As well as this I had to write an essay on how American universities are using and embracing digital technology and the impact that this has. This was interesting although I struggled with the structure and finding information on the topic so we'll see how well I did when I get the feedback.

Sciences Po has been in many ways very similar to Warwick, and in many ways very different, as I expected. I have definitely learnt a lot and I am so impressed and proud of myself for completing a whole semester in a french university, studying all in French. I am grateful for the prestigious name which will now display proudly on my CV for the rest of my life, and I am grateful to have met so many interesting and different people. Now i'm ready for the next adventure. Bring on working life. 

Finding an internship here in Paris has been almost as stressful as finding an appartment here back in August. But finally I have succeded!
I have been wanting to write about this as I go along, writing about the struggles, the various interviews, the different opportunities I have applied for etc. but I have also been directing potential employers to this website and I didn't want them to see any negativity. So I have chosen now, that everything is secured and my convention de stage is signed, to tell all.

I began sending off applications back in October. I applied first to all the major fashion houses like Chanel and Dior. Hitting the send button on these applications is one of the most nerve racking things I have ever had to do. I worked really hard to write a creative and interesting cover letter, to perfect my one-page CV, but sadly I had no responses. Not one. My dreams of working in the luxury goods industry shattered. I have to be honest I was very disappointed and upset. I have no idea why my applications weren't pursued. I don't know if it's because of my level of study, the fact I'm not french, my lack of something else. It has always been my dream to work in luxury goods so to not even progress to a single interview in this industry was discouraging.

However I was determined to do an internship so I continued to explore as many other opportunities as possible. I found that France generally is very laid back (or maybe disorganised) when it comes to organising internships. Once we started to get to mid november I was really starting to worry I wasn't going to be able to find an internship at all. In the UK applications were closing for summer 2016 internships but in France no one was responding to my applications, or they would say they would call me in for an interview in a few days time, and then email 2 weeks later because they'd been "busy".

I tried lots of different ways to make contacts and to meet companies. I went to a really interesting Start Up Fair in November and subsequently met with a cool Start Up who have built a new instagram search engine tool to provide businesses with user generated content.  I interviewed for a company who have created a new software tool in collaboration with Microsoft (these people offered me an internship but it was to do their US relations so would consist of working mostly in English which I didn't want). But I didn't seem to find any opportunities that could give me what I wanted in terms of learning and experience.

I started to think about what I liked about the fashion industry and what other industries had the same skills. I love the creativity involved in fashion,  how designers can take inspiration and then turn it into a business. I wanted to work in a fast-paced, creative and strategic business. So I started looking into advertising and applying for internships in this industry.

I had spoken to BETC back in July regarding an internship but they had told me it was too early so I should get in touch again in the autumn. After meeting with them at the Sciences Po jobs fair, and after 3 different interviews they finally offered me a job!! It was one of those moments in life when I felt so proud of myself because I had done this all by myself. I had written the applications in french, done the interviews in French and proved that I could be good enough to work for them. I am very excited, and also relieved to have sorted an internship because January is fast approaching!

BETC is the best advertising agency in France (ouf). They are hugely creative and renowned in the industry in France, and part of the Havas group worldwide. Their most notable campaigns include the Evian baby adverts and they regularly win advertising prizes for their campaigns. So i am beyond excited to have the opportunity to spend 6 months working in such a dynamic company. I think it will be a challenge for me because I don't really know what the advertising industry is like but I am excited for the chance to learn lots, to improve my french even more (I will be forced to speak at work which I am not in lectures) and to work hard.

I will probably do an update nearer just before I start, and of course and end-of-uni recap. Congratulations if you have read this far. Sorry this was a long one.

Today was a typical Parisian Sunday. I woke up late, made myself look effortlessly chic (using a lot of effort), headed out to a department store, grabbing a pain au raisin on route, and came home with a Moncler coat. 

If you thought Paris was pretty normally then you should see it now, in the run up to christmas. The city of lights now has christmas lights every where. Christmas markets have popped up left, right and centre, the largest being at the bottom of the Champs Elysées, lining both sides of the road with amazing foods and mulled everything. 

Mulled wine always reminds me of skiing and is my absolute favourite winter drink so the discovery of these christmas markets was beyond exciting. The mulled wine is also the perfect antidote to the fact that it is absolutely pouring with rain and freezing cold. I also discovered tartiflette for the first time, which to be honest I don't know why/how I didn't know about before. It's like a creamy, cheesy, onion, bacon carbonara but with potatoes. It's heaven. I was so inspired I even made some myself at home. 

Here's me chilling with the big guy himself:

Can we just acknowledge for a second the inside of Printemps? This is the christmas display to end all christmas displays. All the other shops should just go home right now. I don't know who is in charge of their interior decoration or displays but hats off to them because this is a christmas masterpiece. It even had a light display that happened every hour. WOW. 

On another note, can we please acknowledge the ridiculous-ness of the Chanel window display? I can't remember when I last got my sandals out on christmas day for a walk in the snow. Just bizarre. I understand they probably have a largely foreign client basis who probably do wear sandals on christmas day but still I think the Chanel window dresser could learn a thing or two from Printemps itself or even its neighbour Dior (left). 

L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N...
The weekend following the attacks, after days of closure (the first closure since its opening in 1993), Disneyland reopened. Everyone knows Disneyland is the happiest place on earth, and with Paris probably one of the unhappiest places on the earth I figured it was a pretty good place to spend a day. In a world of magic and imagination, a world away from the horrors of the real world.

There are very few people travelling to Paris at the moment which meant there were very short queues at Disney, which meant more rides. It's just one of those places that is timeless and unchanged by what is going on in the rest of the world.
*If anyone from Disney reads this and wants to offer me and internship don't hesitate to get in touch, as you can see I am very passionate/borderline obsessed about Disney.

 This time I did both the parks. I have never been in the Walt Disney studios park before and its great. I think disney and there more recent animations are hugely inspiring and each film is pushed to the next level. In this park you begin to see this next-level technology being applied to disney rides too. The Ratatouille ride is a really cool 3D experience where you feel completely immersed in the story and it just makes you think where will theme park rides go next. There is a lot of construction happening at Disney, remakes of rides, and it just makes me excited to see how they will modernise and update things, how they can re-interpret and give new dimensions to their stories.

It is in winter season at Disney so there was fake snow, ice sculptures, even more fairy lights than normal, even more magic. I have visited Disneyland in every season now except spring and with 7 months still left in Paris I think probably I'll be able to tick this off the to-do list.

I am writing this post some months after the attacks of November 13th. For a long time I didn't know how to address what had happened. Even now its hard to know what to say. I was fortunate that being in Paris was the closest I was to the attacks, and that no one I know was seriously affected. You can't imagine that human beings can committ such attrocities, bring such terror. But life must go on, and Paris and the french people have taught me that.

The attacks happened the weekend my parents where in town, just before my birthday. What should have been a weekend of celebrations was scary, and sad.  When these kind of horrific thing are happening on the news it's very easy to not take much notice of them. Until it directly affects you and is happening half an hour from where you live you can't understand the impact and devastation that they cause. The people of France are brave and courageous, they banded together to support one another and to carry on with life, but it was truly a horrible and scary time to be living in Paris. In a way I think it was almost worse for people in other places, seeing everything unfold on the news, the 24/7 coverage of the horrific events. In Paris, people were determined to get on with life and to not have their joie de vivre defeated.

The day after the attacks we bought champagne to celebrate my birthday. A lot of the shops were shut and the streets were very quiet, we felt a bit stupid buying champagne. However  the man in the shop summed it up perfectly, he said "we must continue to drink champagne, we must continue to live, and we must not let them win". I am proud to live in a city that remains so strong in the face of terror, a city of people who continue to dine "en terrace", and who support each other in saying they are "même pas peur" *not even scared.

It's November and it's 20 degrees. This weekend I had my best friend staying with me, and her boyfriend's friend who is from the States, but currently studying in Europe. He had never been to Paris so this gave us the perfect excuse to be tourists and enjoy the autumn weather.
I know that proper Parisians have probably never been to the Eiffel Tower or the Arc de Triomphe, or at least not to just go and stare at it, but there are worse ways to spend a weekend. Plus, you less like a loser taking selfies at the Eiffel Tower than anywhere else because everyone is doing it.