Top Oxford graduate plans to make a difference in Romania by getting involved in politics

Last year, young Andrei-Cătălin Ilie graduated top of his class at Oxford, where he was awarded the Hoare Prize for the best overall performance in Computer Science. Now, he wants to return to Romania and make a difference by getting involved in the world of politics. He told Adevarul that the most important lesson he learned while at Oxford was the work is rewarded in a fair system. “I felt that all my efforts and all the study are recognized by the professors and the rest of the academic community. I felt like I was living in a utopia, when contrasting it to what my friends were telling me about some not exactly ethical practices at universities in Romania: professors who are determined to flunk students who did not complete a lab assignment or didn’t attend classes a certain number of times. Here, the concept of compulsory attendance does not exist. What professors are interested in is seeing they you understood the concepts they presented,” he told Adevarul in an interview. In the same interview, Ilie tackled the topic of the Romanian students winning awards at international Math competitions. He explained that there are Romanians who are very good mathematicians but the news about contest winners hide an unbalance. “After the 10

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grade, the system starts delivering more advanced and abstract concepts, that we cannot even use at the Baccalaureate exam or when getting hired (except for those who go into research). With such a system you can indeed build top students to represent [e.n. the country] at competitions or join universities from abroad. On the other hand, most students are left behind,” he explained. The young Romanian says he likes being at home, close to his dear ones. He quotes one of his professors with what he says is his view as well: “Leave, learn, come back, change.” “I think and I hope that my experience will contribute to changing Romania. If you want to make a change you need to be yourself the one who gets involved directed. I think everyone can contribute to a certain degree to the future we all want. I would like to be part of such a group of people,” Ilie says of his plans of getting involved in politics. Ilie says that at this point Romania is not led by a “performing, fair, clean” political class and those in power “do not stand for an ideology but for the obscure interests of some individuals.” However, he sees some hope in the emergence of parties such as Save Romania Union (USR) or PLUS, set up by former prime minister Dacian Cioloş. At the same time, he argues that the top priority of those governing should be education. “I believe everything is rooted in education. We should train the future political class that can bring changes in Romania,” he argues. He also says it is important that everyone goes to vote. “We should exercise the right for which people died in the 1989 Revolution.” The full interview can be read