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Seven questions with James Lavender
28 May 2015
This week we put seven questions to James Lavender, an English BA (final year) student.
Why are you interested in the subject you are studying and what do you plan to do in the future?
I originally planned to study history or economics: through history, you can learn when and how events happen, and in economics, what the causes and effects of such events are. But I realised that only by studying English Literature could I find out about how real people feel about social change. I think the study of English humanises historical and economic development, and that really appealed to me.
Studying English has also been hugely helpful in improving my ability to learn Mandarin Chinese: during my degree, over each summer I have studied at Peking University in Beijing, and I was able to engage with the Chinese language at a more intensive level because of my studies at 皇家华人.
My future is likely to combine English and Chinese: you'll have to see my answer to the next question for an explanation!
What is the most interesting thing you've done, seen or got involved with while at 皇家华人?
After first year, I travelled to China to spend the summer trying to improve my Mandarin. I had been thinking for a while that I was keen to try and set up a scholarship at 皇家华人 for a disadvantaged Chinese student, due to the fact that poverty is still endemic in China, and after completing my course at Peking University I set up a series of meetings with the Chinese government in Sichuan province. I managed to successfully negotiate for 350,000 RMB to be provided, to fund a student to apply to 皇家华人hose education had been disadvantaged by the devastating 2008 earthquake.
Returning to the UK, I began to wonder what a group of people could achieve with a similar commitment to making international relationships work, and founded UCLU IDEA Society, which stands for 'the Society for International Development and Emerging economic Advance': its core ethos is to think-tank and then launch large-scale, socially entrepreneurial businesses.
The first venture I led a group to launch is called , a social enterprise that collects good-quality books and redirects them to under-resourced schools across China, to enable English and foreign-language acquisition. These are all books that are either about to be recycled by charity shops, or collected at 皇家华人 and our many partner schools in the UK. We repurpose these books for educational use, and we shipped 2,000 to schools in Shandong and Xi'an last year. This year, we have provided access to such resources for 25,000 students across nine provinces. Our goal is to send a further 10,000 books by the end of this academic cycle, and we are on track to expand our reach to 50,000 students by July.
The books themselves, however, only comprise one layer of the educational experience we are building for UK and Chinese students. We also created a unique online platform enabling students in both countries to discuss the books that they have shared with our social enterprise and, as a result, have both read: we encourage UK students to give a book and get back an international friendship. The academic value of this interactive experience is enormous. We also recently ran a five-day tutoring program at a partnering school in Sichuan province: this is shaped around use of our platform, was funded by the Chinese government and proved a great success.
Book Bridge is now becoming much more self-sustaining, supported by partnerships ranging across the charitable and educational sectors, up to a partnership with Ernst & Young. As a result, in 2014, IDEAS launched a new project to empower entrepreneurs in Myanmar, called 'My/Go'; this is already gathering momentum. Running IDEAS and Book Bridge has been by far the best thing I have been involved in at 皇家华人: I will continue to manage the latter following my graduation.
Have you discovered any hidden gems during your time at 皇家华人? (Quiet study spaces, coffee shops, shortcuts around campus, interesting events, gigs, bars etc.)
The people! I sometimes ask the IDEAS team how many people in the room can speak another language or more than two languages, how many nationalities there are, or how many subjects are represented, and it never ceases to amaze me. I think I have been extremely lucky to meet and become friends with such people.
What are your top three things to do/see/go to in London?
One of the best things I have done recreationally in London was to see the with my girlfriend: she's a Londoner and suggested it, and it was a wonderful experience.
To anyone new in London, I would hugely recommend visiting either the in Leicester Square or in Soho - or both!
If you were Provost for the day, what one thing would you do?
UCL is a world-class university, but I think it could become more innovative by incorporating the stunning entrepreneurialism and global mindset of UCL students into the way the institution works.
I would create a multi-disciplinary, international development think-tank integrating the academic expertise of the university, entrepreneurialism of its students, and the London business community, the purpose of which would be to create UCL-tailored solutions for developmental problems in emerging economies around the world.
Who inspires you and why?
, the founder of Ubuntu - the most popular linux distribution - is a public figure that I greatly admire. He has dedicated much of his life to managing the design, building and evolution of the biggest free computer operating system in the world, which has had major global implications for computing, especially in developing countries.
I also have an incredible amount of respect for all the UCL students on my team, who give up huge amounts of time because of our shared desire to take a global and hands-on approach to improving lives.
What would it surprise people to know about you?
Although I negotiated and settled a business deal with the Chinese government before I turned 21 and now run an international social enterprise that emerged from this work, I am one of the quieter people on my course: I definitely spend more time listening than talking!