Dear Rotary, 

“Look again at that dot. That’s here. That’s home. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines…” 

So begin of what are some of the most memorable lines from Carl Sagan’s book The Pale Blue Dot. I left the Ithaca in 2015 to make my home for the next two years across the Atlantic in London. Ah, and what a journey it has been to inhabit a different part of the hemisphere, a different perspective, a different way of living being exposed to “thousands of religions, ideologies, economic doctrines.” I begin this letter with thanking my Rotary district in upstate New York, the community of people who gave me the opportunity to go on this journey. I especially want to thank Lana Rouff, Nancy Potter, George Gull, and Richard Kiely – you are very special to me and you have inspired me.

A few weeks ago I took my last exam in public economics, and so it happened it was a day full of sunshine, which in the month of May could be considered a rather unexpected event in London. It was nice to finish the program on such a bright note. Often when an experience comes to an end the word most commonly used is “bittersweet,” but I felt more excited, happy and thankful. I do not feel like I am saying goodbye to the university, the community of people, my Rotary family who have made the last two years special, but I feel that this last two years have given me the tools, the spontaneous moments of inspiration, and experience to face what is to come next and to do so together. So what is next? 

Currently I am in London working at an organization where I am putting to practice the skills I built in the program for the past two years. Specifically, I am using econometric techniques to evaluate the impact of social programs, such as educational initiatives. It is exciting work to me, because I am able to work with data to perform analysis and contribute to more evidence-based policies.  

When I became a Rotary scholar, it was a privilege for me to join such a community and I was determined to share in some form the investment Rotary made in me to pursue my graduate studies. Since moving to the UK in 2015, the UK has transformed substantially – Brexit and the recent elections are a few of the dramatic changes. What I learned during this time is that the political discourse was alienating people due to the use of economic arguments and expert jargon that was not understood by many. What I also learned while studying at the LSE was a new growing movement of people questioning the field of economics, its assumptions, and furthermore, the way it is being taught. This is the issue I plan to address by creating a project aimed to bring economics to the public sphere, and do so in an accessible, spontaneous, exciting and new approach. I plan to use the public spaces of London to organize “pop-up” economic debates, or “guerrilla style” lectures, where the location, the speakers, the topic is secret until the day of the event. The location will serve as the theme to introduce economic concepts and open the floor for lively debates. For example, meeting in Borough Market, the largest and oldest food market in the world, people will be introduced to concepts of supply and demand, the Hotelling model of clustering, among other concepts. Through an immersive experience they will question, debate and engage in discussions. The hope is that people will realize that economics is not a discipline locked away in an ivory tower for experts, but it is everywhere, London is a city built on economics, and economics is about understanding how life works. By doing so, I hope people will feel empowered to engage in the political debates and hold politicians accountable next time arguments are made in the name of “economic growth.”  

In a few weeks time the Graduation Ceremony will take place and I will be able to see classmates once again before we all go to the different corners of the world. Before graduation I will have the chance to see my Rotary family here where all the scholars and host clubs will meet for a day together. I also hope to be able to visit my Rotary district back at home in upstate New York sometime soon in the future to share in person about the last two years. 

Carl Sagan finishes the quote by stating, “It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known.”

I think beyond the economics, econometrics, policy analysis tools that I have learned, far more profound has been the character-building experience that has cemented in me the simple idea that be an aspiring policymaker, an entrepreneur, an employee, a neighbor, a citizen, to deal more kindly with one another… 

Kind regards, 
Lusiné Mehrabyan

  Classmates picnicking together

  March for Europe that took place in London shortly after the results of the referendum for UK to leave EU

 My school and the building where the MPA program is located - my university home for the past two years 

My Rotary host parents in Bristol, where we went to the Rotary District Conference together