Winter 11 Featuring: The Buckingham Palace Awards Ceremony ...

IF IT WASN’T FOR THE ESU . . . !
We invited alumni to submit their own stories for our
special feature - ‘If it wasn’t for the ESU...!’ -
and we are delighted to be able to share with you
some of the amazing ways they were able to finish that
sentence. From furthering professional development
to building lifelong personal relationships, our alumni
certainly prove that the ESU continues to have a
transformative effect on their lives.
We would like to thank all those who
contributed to this feature!
‘I wouldn’t be spreading the values of debate and
free speech around the world!’
At school, I was selected by the ESU to become a member
of the England Schools’ Debating Team. In 2005, the team
competed at the World Schools’ Debating Championships
in Canada, reaching the grand final. The coaching I
received from other ESU alumni during my time on the
England team helped me to gain admission to Magdalen
College, Oxford, where I studied Philosophy, Politics &
Economics.
Following graduate school at Harvard, I now work at a
leading management consultancy firm with several other
ESU alumni. My experiences with the ESU have genuinely
been life-changing and as a result I owe the ESU a huge
debt of gratitude.
Andrew Goodman – Mongolia Debate Tour 2007
At University, I was chosen by the ESU to participate in a
tour of Mongolia where, along with the staff of ESU
Mongolia, we introduced Mongolian students to speech and
debate and provided political parties and NGOs with an
overview of the importance of debate as a form of civic
education. My experience as an ESU alumnus gave me the
inspiration and credibility to set up QatarDebate with a
fellow ESU alumnus. QatarDebate is a civic engagement
initiative which aims to develop and support the standard of
open discussion and debate among students and young
people in Qatar and the broader Arab world.
DIALOGUE 35