Grace Guan

I decided to stay in Edinburgh after graduation. It was very lonely since, most, if not all, of the people I knew had left. And I struggled to find a job until I stumbled into a freelance interpreting role. The role took me to many unexpected places, including corporate grievances meetings, factories, and research labs. It gave me insight into all sorts of industries I wouldn’t otherwise have known, and more importantly boosted my confidence to walk into any unknown situation with composure.

Later I decided to go back to China. Fortunately, soon after applying, I got an interview and was offered a position at the British Consulate in Shanghai. For the first year, I got to work across the different departments, from Climate Change to the Economic department to Trade and Investment. Then I joined the Political and Economic team where my passion for civil society and social policy has grown in the past few years.

The confidence to give everything a go and the need to absorb new knowledge took me further in my career. Later I managed the official development assistance fund for the consulate, supervising and delivering a wide range of fascinating projects from anti-domestic violence, to capacity building for grassroots non-governmental organisations, to freedom of expression. I was extremely fortunate to have worked with so many inspiring people. I was also lucky to have worked on the high-level visits of David Cameron, George Osborne and Theresa May for UK-China bilateral relationships.

The sense of adventure and curiosity was not limited to work. After I left the university I have also challenged myself in respect to travel and sports. I travel around the world extensively whenever I have the opportunity, it has given me fresh perspectives. I also took up the challenge of boxing from scratch, and then contested in front of 1500 people to support breast cancer awareness.

Thanks to my beautiful memories of Edinburgh, when I returned to China and realised there were no alumni associations here, I decided to set up one. Starting with small gatherings in cafes, we’ve now held a few ceilidhs and Burns Night celebrations for 500 people. The community is growing ever strong, all because we have that special sense of belonging to the city we once called home, Edinburgh.