Ozair Ahmad

MPhil in Development Studies 2018

The past year at Trinity College has been an amazing experience, and I will be eternally grateful to the Anton E.B. Schefer Foundation for its generosity in supporting the year of studies.

While there were many aspects to reading and writing for the MPhil in Development Studies that had an enormous influence on my learning, three aspects were particularly significant. First, the pedagogical style at Cambridge differed vastly from my undergraduate degree at McIntire School of Commerce, University of Virginia. Whereas the latter programme was centred on a steady stream of case-based homework and group projects, the Cambridge curriculum centres on extensive reading of primary sources and writing cumulative yearend essays. While both academic styles certainly have their benefits, I am extremely grateful to have experienced the different curriculum at Cambridge. Specifically, professors emphasised the importance of reading primary literature from a wide array of different viewpoints, with the aim of understanding various sides to an argument before synthesising our own ideas in final essays.

Second, the ability to hear from, and debate with, Cambridge professors in weekly lectures and small discussion groups was an incredible experience. Similar to the welcoming nature of McIntire faculty, professors in my department made themselves readily available to delve into course subjects, career paths, and current events outside of class time. In addition, not only are many of the interdisciplinary department's professors leading academics in their respective fields, but many also serve as advisers to both public and private sector organisations. As a result, their lectures were complemented with deep insight from individual experiences dealing with current events in the global business and development sectors.

Thirdly, the academic programme struck a great balance between theoretical and applied work in the context of the development sector. For instance, one class focused on the academic theories surrounding the scale and scope of private firms, as well as the global business revolution of the 20th century. My essay for this class focused on corporations' influence over international supply chains, and how multinational corporations are dramatically impacting the course of economic development for nations around the world.

The readings for this course were complemented by present-day case studies we analysed in my Politics and Sociology of Development course, in which I wrote an essay on the impact of global corporations on local labour patterns and urban environments in developing nations.

Consequently, these courses forced me to view global business through a vastly different lens than I used during my time at McIntire, and having been exposed to both schools' styles of analyses, I am optimistic that I will be able to have a much more holistic approach to global business and international development in my future career.

Outside of the classroom, the most significant aspect of my Cambridge experience was meeting and conversing with a hugely diverse array of people from around the world, most of whom were pursuing Master's and PhD degrees in different subjects. Conversations with these peers were greatly beneficial in that I not only was able to hear different perspectives on topics that I was studying, namely economics and development, but also in that I learned a great deal about academic disciplines that I formerly had limited exposure to. This opportunity to hear perspectives of people from different academic fields and from nations around the world was a unique experience that I will never forget, and one that will undoubtedly inform my world view of various matters in the future.

One of the most informative and beneficial parts of the year was meeting an array of people who are immensely ambitious and passionate about a variety of diverse subject matters. While I loved my experience at the University of Virginia (UVA) and McIntire, I was often surrounded by people pursuing a few similar areas, namely finance, consulting, and law.

In contrast, the College experience at Trinity forces students to interact with peers who are pursuing hugely different areas from one another. On a 10-minute trip into the College coffee shop, I would have conversations with graduate students in maths, linguistics, physics, and history, making for a vastly different experience from the academically and professionally homogenous groups I found myself in at UVA.

Further, my education from Cambridge professors was significantly complemented by numerous guest speakers of the University over the course of the year. These lectures occurred multiple times each week, in settings such as the Cambridge Union, University conferences, and academic departments that were hosting guest speakers. As a result, I was able to listen to and meet figures related to my studies, including Zeid bin Ra'ad Al-Hussein, as well as luminaries outside the development and economics sectors, such as Jony Ive. This aspect of the Cambridge experience is one that I will always be grateful for, and is one that is truly unique to a university that serves as one of the key centres for academic discourse in the world. Regarding my future career, I departed McIntire believing that I would likely have a career in the investing world. While this certainly may still be the case, I am now equipped with a much wider view of the paths one can take to apply a background in finance and business to the international development sphere.

Learning about an array of career paths was a greatly beneficial aspect of my time at Cambridge, and one that I likely would not have been able to achieve without the support of the Anton E B. Schefer Foundation this year.

In the near term, I am excited to begin my career at Alpine Investors, a private-equity firm based in San Francisco. I am confident that the knowledge and skills I gained at Cambridge will serve me well as I begin my work at Alpine, and I look forward to further connecting my academic and professional career to Cambridge in the future.

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