Post by Selin Soykurt, MBA

Yesterday I had the privilege of attending UCL’s bicentennial celebration, 200 years of a university built on bold ideas.   Founded as London’s first university, and the first to admit students regardless of religion, background or gender, UCL has always stood for intellectual courage and inclusion. From lunch breaks on the steps of the Portico to catch some London sun, to long days in the Cruciform building, to friendships turned into lifelong family across the world — UCL shaped some of the most formative years of my life. Returning for the celebration with Hasan Saygınel & Gulshen Unveren felt like coming home.   As a First Class Honours graduate in Bsc Biomedical Sciences (2020), I became fascinated by brain plasticity — the idea that the brain is constantly adapting and rewiring itself. Looking back, I realise I was experiencing that transformation in real time. Graduating in 2020, later pursuing an e-MBA Sabanci University Sabancı University Professional Graduate Programs, and moving into consulting at EY-Parthenon, I often reflect on how natural that pivot felt. That 360-degree way of thinking, the comfort with complexity and change, began here, where I first learned how to think, how to question, and how to stretch beyond a single discipline.   Thank you UCL , for the foundation, the friendships, the exposure, the mindset, and the belief that you can change direction and still move forward.   Happy 200th birthday! #ucl #biomedicalsciences #uclalumni #celebrate #consulting