A Conversation with Class of 2025 Alum Gabriel Nilsson

What career opportunity are you pursuing after graduating from Minerva?

After graduating from Minerva, I have been funded by the Saven Cambridge Scholarship to attend the MPhil in Scientific Computing at the University of Cambridge.

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What led you to this opportunity? What help did you receive from your peers, alumni, or the Coaching and Talent Development team (CTD) in your journey to this position?

I wouldn't have had this opportunity without the support from my professors, who guided me throughout my grad-school applications. I especially thank Prof. Alexandra Terrana, Prof. Lucas Tambasco, and Prof. Carl Scheffler for being great role models and directly supporting me in my grad school applications.

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What skills have you acquired during your studies at Minerva that you believe made you stand out?

Minerva is exceptionally good at actually teaching you and training you in critical thinking. It's common to not pay special attention to teaching it actively and to assume that critical thinking comes automatically as one gets educated or more knowledgeable. It's also a misconception that one will permanently think critically once it has been learned. At Minerva, critical thinking is practiced actively in every class, and it's treated as both the skill and habit that it is, rather than an identity you achieve. After Minerva, it truly does feel like a habit to actively think about problems and ideas using perspectives that, initially, don't occur to me naturally. This is what I believe makes me stand out.

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What experiences—academic, professional, or personal—during your global rotation had the biggest impact on your growth?

Being at Minerva has meant dealing with tough challenges of many shapes, managing intense academics, figuring out visas multiple times a year, looking for new opportunities, and trying to not lose your footing as you keep moving to new countries. These challenges have grown me into a very versatile person with a lot of endurance for change.

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Can you share a (civic) project or internship you’re especially proud of from your time at Minerva?

My proudest achievements will always be the things that were hard, and not necessarily the things I was good at. For me, this is when I spent a summer tree planting in the Canadian wilderness. Living in tents and working long hours in every weather condition was something completely new, extremely challenging, and equally rewarding. Through this experience, like other types of challenges at Minerva, I proved to myself that I'm stronger than I think.

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How has Minerva’s global and interdisciplinary approach shaped the way you think about your career or long-term goals?

When I ask myself what I see myself doing in a decade, I now have a much broader image in mind. I understand and have experienced the benefit of trying multiple different paths, and how you become a more well-rounded human and thinker when you have experience beyond a narrow career track. I look at things in a broader context, and compared to how I was thinking before Minerva, I now see many more paths as both possible and good paths.

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What’s something unexpected you’ve learned about yourself during your time at Minerva?

Thanks to Minerva's interdisciplinary nature, I've had the fortune to be around people who make me try new things I would have never otherwise. I never thought in my life I would end up standing on stage, singing and dancing in front of an audience, and even enjoy it. At Minerva, I've not only tried the new things that are easy to try, like food or places, but also done the scary and uncomfortable things. What I've learned is that most things aren't actually uncomfortable, they're just untried!

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What advice would you give to peers or younger students regarding finding and leveraging professional opportunities in your industry?

Be passionate about your work, and show your curiosity when you speak with people. This will make you stand out when it really matters. Stay with professors for office hours, ask curious questions to the speaker at the event you went to, show that you're there to learn.

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‍If you were inspired by Gabriel's story and are seeking a college experience that will teach you valuable pragmatic skills that will enable you to change the world, consider applying to Minerva.

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