Roxanna Azimy
I graduated from the 杏吧论坛’s European Institute in 2017 with an MSc in European Studies, Ideas, Ideologies, and Identities, where I specialised in political philosophy and multiculturalism. I can honestly say that my time at 杏吧论坛 was a launching pad for my career. It encouraged me to delve deeper into the origins behind ideologies that we take for granted today: such as democracy, secularism, and Eurocentrism. Perhaps most pertinently for me, I also learned how to better research, develop, and articulate my arguments.
Barely after submitting my dissertation I headed straight to Brussels, where I worked for five months at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Taxation and Customs as a Blue Book Trainee. This gave me a practical introduction to working within European affairs. During this time I also started writing articles for the online publication Euro Babble, which piqued my interest in content writing and online communication.
After the traineeship, I stayed in Brussels to work as Communications and Events Officer at the European Parliamentary Forum for Sexual and Reproductive Rights. Here I enjoyed more creative freedom: I oversaw the global organisation’s online advocacy for women’s empowerment and reproductive health and rights, from social media to op-eds. During my year in this position I also co-organised and attended international parliamentary conferences in Geneva, Ottawa, Kigali, Kraków – and, of course, the European Parliament in Brussels.
After this I returned to the European Commission, this time to DG Communication. I worked as a Public Affairs Consultant on a new corporate campaign aimed at spreading awareness about the EU in rural areas. Due to my language skills, my focus was Spain. This meant I got sent out to a remote part of Extremadura for one of the several events we organised across the country - representing the European Commission on the ground in an unlikely agricultural setting!
Throughout this time and up until today, I have continued to write extensively for Euro Babble on the side, and became Co-Editor of the publication after my first few months. This then progressed to becoming Communications Director for the organisation behind the project - the European Future Forum. As such, I now continue to not only write articles, but also manage the content submitted by other writers and participate in various projects promoting European unity - such as the upcoming European Future Fringe. I also work as a content writer on a freelance basis which, so far, has led me to have work published in a range of publications covering politics, health, and even philosophy.