Reuben's News - May 2020

After completing my A-levels in 2008, I went on to study Economics at the University of Leeds. Choosing universities at the time was a huge decision, however after experiencing the rugby programme and nightlife of Leeds, I knew I’d found my new home.

Since graduating in 2011, I’ve worked in the City of London in Financial Sales for various companies such as Bloomberg and Capital Economics. Working as a Director of Sales has provided me with the opportunity to travel to nine countries and 14 cities across the world, forging relationships with inspiring professionals, which has been a great experience.

In May 2019, I was delighted to present at the school's Celebration of Sport ON reunion event at Haberdashers’ Hall and since then my mind-set and aspirations have pivoted into a new direction. I have been a part of diversity and inclusion initiatives to help mentor students in the early stages of their careers. I have also worked on pro-bono projects to help launch start-ups in the technology industry.  This has led me to become an MBA Candidate at Imperial Business School in 2020 and I’m now looking forward to growing and developing my business skills further. I’ve also been invited to become a Freeman of the Haberdashers’ Company, where I hope to provide advice and guidance to Haberdashers' students that aspire to work in the City.

Coping with lockdown

The first few weeks drove me absolutely bonkers, I can’t lie, especially with a job that necessitates going out and meeting people on a daily basis. Being confined to my East London flat soon began to feel like a prison. As my brothers and dad are NHS workers, I decided to avoid going home despite the constant bribes from my mum of her delicious home cooking.

At first I was a bit lost, however, when in the last ten years have I had time to take a step off the rat race? Now I have had time to read books, learn new recipes and perfect the Picante cocktail! It has definitely been a great time to reflect on what’s important in life and I’m thankful to my girlfriend and housemate for keeping me sane. 

The lockdown has also brought me closer in a weird way to my friends and family. The Adams’ boys do daily workouts via zoom to kick start the mornings. When your oldest friends are premiership rugby players and Sandhurst Officers it’s been easy to stay healthy. We also do weekly quizzes where I’ve successfully come last every week and Andrew Kitchener seems to always win…suspicious I know!  

My tips to friends would be to use the time wisely as we’ll be back to “normal” very soon. Try and find a routine that you can be consistent with and pick a few new skills to learn along the way. Watching back-to-back episodes on Netflix of Tiger King and Michael Jordan's’ "The Last Dance" was also fun. However, now it’s summer it’s amazing being able to work from home and spend time outdoors. 

Do keep safe during the challenging times and do use this gift of more time wisely.

Pictured below: Reuben(centre) and some of his fellow Class of 2008 ONs during the school's Celebration of Sport event at Haberdashers' Hall in May 2019.