Perth has more than a million inhabitants, yet it’s among the most isolated cities in the world. Situated in Western Australia, Perth is totally different from other large cities such as Melbourne or Sydney. It’s famous for its sunny beaches, its spectacular natural surroundings, and its citizens’ calm lifestyles. Daniel Bloch hails from this genuine city, a young man of twenty-one years who fate brought to Segovia, nearly fifteen thousand kilometers away, to study a double major in Business Management and International Relations at IE University.
Despite being born in such an amazing city as Perth, Daniel always liked adventure, and even as a child he felt the need to leave Australia. His cosmopolitan and entrepreneurial vision is largely due to the education he received at the Scotch College of Perth, where he graduated from an international high school program. He wanted to travel, meet people around the world, and learn from their cultures. It’s ironic that Australia, the largest island in the world, became too small a place. “I had to explore, learn about different lifestyles, and discover what was out there,” says Daniel.
The opportunity he was waiting for came about in 2014 at sixteen years of age, when he was selected by IE University as one of the members of its Junior Advisory Board, a committee made up of international students about to start university that gathered in Segovia and Madrid for a few days in order to participate in various workshops and classes led by renowned experts. Daniel was one of the sixteen young people selected by IE University from hundreds of schools all around the world to participate in a “committee of young scholars.” Daniel was selected thanks to his mastery of several languages, his outstanding academic achievements, and his unique leadership capabilities.
Photo by: Roberto Arribas
Something different
“From the very first moment, IE University has been incredible,” he says. His visit to the IE University campus in Segovia some four years ago changed his perspective. The desire to study in the best universities in the UK, such as Oxford or Cambridge, vanished when he saw that IE University was proposing “something totally different than a traditional institution.” At IE University, the young Australian found a perfect model for the development of his professional profile since “the education is flexible, creativity is a constant in the classroom, and the professors are highly connected to the real world. They help us grow our ideas and they know how to encourage an entrepreneurial spirit,” he emphasizes. He notes that it’s a “very dynamic” institution, “capable of adapting quickly to change.”
What’s certain is that Daniel has been able to adapt perfectly to Spain and to life on campus. He believes that a student should make the most of the opportunities offered at university. For instance, his talent and entrepreneurial spirit were key for him in becoming one of the 100 young people around the world to be selected to participate in the 13th edition of the South American Business Forum, a university forum held in August in Buenos Aires. The goal of the forum, in which more than 40 world leaders participated, was to forge genuine bonds in future professionals, those who will become the decision-makers of the international academic, political, and business worlds of the future. Daniel already has another important event marked in his agenda, for which he was selected to participate: the 21st edition of the World Business Dialogue—the most important student convention in the world—taking place in Germany in March 2018. More than 300 students from the most prestigious universities on the planet, as well as 70 top-level exhibitors and three hundred economic and business leaders, will gather together to discuss alternative economic models in the University of Cologne. And Daniel will be there.
Not everything in this young Australian’s life revolves around professional development. One of his passions is writing. “Since I was six years old I have loved to write all kinds of things, stories, poetry, or movie scripts,” he says. And it seems like he’s pretty good at it. In fact, he was one of the winners of the IE Foundation Prize in Humanities 2017, in the category of poetry in the English language with his piece “Move.” He also likes to write and shoot short films. His short film “Ceaseless,” which you can find on YouTube, was selected to participate in three international film festivals.
Rugby
In addition to writing and filmmaking, Daniel’s most important hobby is rugby, the king of sports in Australia. He’s been coach and player of IE University’s rugby team for two years now, which has over thirty players from the Segovia campus. The team trains at La Lastrilla and competes in Madrid, and recently participated in the third World InterUniversities Championships, held in Barcelona, where more than 60 universities from around the world compete in various sports. Daniel’s rugby team reached the quarter-finals: a real success.
Although he dedicates a large part of his time to studies, Daniel Bloch also works online for Net2work, a London-based startup that’s similar to LinkedIn, connecting companies to university students. Working from Segovia, Daniel’s target is to aid in the network’s expansion among young Europeans. Nevertheless, the great professional dream of this young Australian is to become an executive in the aeronautical industry. “Right now, one of my passions is electric-powered aviation research; it’s the future. I’m convinced that it is possible to find a solution that replaces aircraft fuel. Sooner or later, airplanes will be sustainable. My goal is to work for a big airline that opts for green planes,” he notes.
Movember
Daniel Bloch also had time to organize projects on campus like “Movember,” an initiative dedicated to raising awareness about the importance of men’s health; not just physical health issues, such as prostate or testicular cancer, but also mental health issues.
Movember (a play on words between moustache and November) was born in Melbourne (Australia) and in little more than fifteen years has become a global movement in which millions of people have participated. The initiative involves not shaving for a month and so joining the solidarity campaign promoted by him and a group of students at IE University, that contributes to the development of the movement around the world.
Daniel is happy in Segovia. You can tell immediately. “It’s a privilege to leave university and find spectacular greenery,” adds the young Australian, who constantly practices his Spanish in a safe and quiet city “where everyone knows everyone.” Weather permitting, he often escapes to Peñalara, the highest mountain in the Sierra de Guadarrama. “It’s a fantastic spot,” he comments, before adding with a smile: “If Segovia had a beach, it would be perfect.”