Sasha Saenko

I have so many great memories, it is really difficult to choose. But I guess it is the people that made studying at Cass so memorable and fun. First of all, the fantastic lecturers and tutors, who were passionate about their subjects and made learning exciting. Secondly, my classmates, bright, energetic and positive individuals, with who I spent many hours doing group courseworks in the library and then presenting our reports in front of the whole class. Those friendships I made are invaluable, and now, whatever part of the world I am in, I can call on a Cass friend for a coffee and the little tour of the city. So far, I had Cass mini-reunions in Beijing, Shanghai, Moscow, New York, Paris, Almaty, Riga, Vienna, and Istanbul. Thirdly, I have my fond memories of the graduations, especially my Masters graduation, which was quite emotional. My family came from Russia to support me; they couldn’t come to my Bachelors graduation because it was too difficult to get a visa. But for this one they came and it was very special!

I remember when I just started my Bachelor’s degree at Cass, in my first year, our teachers were telling us – ‘you would probably become a management consultant or an investment banker’. But I didn’t want to do anything like that or knew much about what those careers actually entailed! But during the 3 years, I did develop the skills essential to becoming a management consultant, like being really good at presenting, managing teams, project and stakeholder management. After a small stint in fashion, I thought that maybe I should try a career in Consulting and joined PwC on a graduate programme. Four years in, and I have just been promoted to a manager in Digital Technology. I’m glad that Cass gave me the right core skills that helped me reach my current job success. Looks like my teachers were right!