Leonard Tam

President of the alumni group in Luxembourg, Leonard Tam describes how he took advantage of many extracurricular activities during his Law studies.

Your time at the University

Edinburgh is a globally recognised geographical location. I had the fortune to live there for four years, thanks to the University’s unconditional offer of a place to study Law at Old College.

Though I was perhaps a bit too young at the time to appreciate the opportunity, I did take full advantage of the diversity of activities on the many doorsteps, be it the languages classes on your lunch break, evening classes for philosophical film studies, or the Sunday shift serving staff their lunch at the Sheraton Hotel.

On a never-really-ever-ending basis, the mere fact of possessing some common knowledge about the city of Edinburgh helps me connect with people from all walks of life, countries and nationalities who have also been to either Scotland or its capital.

I [took] full advantage of the diversity of activities on the many doorsteps, be it the languages classes on your lunch break, evening classes for philosophical film studies, or the Sunday shift serving staff their lunch at the Sheraton Hotel.

Tell us about your experiences since leaving the University

My first non-standing — i.e. desk — job in Edinburgh was working in a public limited company called the Bank of Scotland, which dates all the way back to the year of 1695. In truly unforeseen circumstances, it helped me land a job in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg where I learnt the ropes, and eventually ended up setting up and managing a privately owned Fund Management Company.

At the time of writing this specific paragraph, for a mission with MoneyGram, the global money transfer company with a network of over 300,000 agents in 200 different countries, I have been assigned the responsibility of managing risks across Europe.

Over a decade ago now, I created the Edinburgh University Luxembourg alumni group to act as a platform to share and reconcile modern working day life with the good old University salad days.

Alumni wisdom

After graduation, no matter what your degree, don’t be afraid to think outside the box, stay true to yourself and go for it.

Related Links

Luxembourg alumni group LinkedIn page (external link)