Cedric, 2022 Summa Cuma Laude in Advanced Global Studies (International Governance and Diplomacy track)

Coming from France, Cédric Colmar has graduated Summa Cum Laude in the Master in Advanced Global Studies 1-year program, in International Governance and Diplomacy. He works as a veterinary public health inspector for the French Ministry of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty.

What skills and/or strategy helped you to succeed at PSIA?

Being back in school on the year of my 40th birthday was quite an interesting and stimulating experience, as well as a challenging one. Managing the readings, classes, assignments and group work requires a different mindset than the one we use in the workplace. Still there are many lessons to learn and synergies to build between both, in terms of time and workload management, task prioritization and process planning. The key to success was adaptability, flexibility and being well-organized.

What part of your PSIA experience do you think will be of greatest help in your career?

In my successive job roles, I was regularly involved in diplomatic processes, negotiations, as well as the review and design of national and international public policies. However, I sometimes had the feeling that I lacked a solid theoretical background to perform better in such situations. This Master program in PSIA allowed me to gain not only tremendous amounts of academic knowledge in the fields of international governance and diplomacy, but also priceless input and feedback from a variety of highly skilled and seasoned practitioners. Additionally, our teachers as well as PSIA and Sciences Po Careers teams were quite committed to helping us expand our professional networks, so that we could benefit from the best possible advice, support and opportunities.

What advice would you give to current and future PSIA students?

The first one would be: go for it! For young professionals like me or my fellow MAGS students, putting a career on hold and investing significant time, money and effort to follow this training will always be a bold move, but I think it is definitely worth it. I have no doubt that there will be plenty of opportunities to leverage this new added-value in order to empower our future working experiences. And of course, this is just as true for younger  students with less professional experience.

My second advice would be: make it a team work. Studying in PSIA is a unique opportunity to meet a variety of brilliant and passionate people, from very different backgrounds and countries. This mix of diversity and talent is a very powerful engine for cohort-spirit and an extraordinary asset for both personal and collective development. PSIA students and alumni are more than just a working community: they are a family. I have been proud to join this family and I will gladly keep contributing to it, and see it grow with future generations of students.

• About the Master in Advanced global Studies