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From Dundee to Segovia: this 18-year-old is training to be a lawyer and intends to work in Spain and the United Kingdom 

When people talk about Scotland, what comes to mind in our collective imagination are those deep green landscapes, their skylines dominated by steep, rocky hillsides, with the occasional stately home dotted around the countryside. The east coast of Scotland is home to some of the country’s most spectacular scenery, and is also where Calum Hedigan, an 18-year-old student undertaking a law degree at IE University, was born and raised.

Calum’s story is that of an intellectually curious young man who’s not afraid of a challenge. From an early age he has shown a disposition toward study, and a particular gift for learning languages, and says that even as a child he was interested in business. So, after successfully finishing his studies at the prestigious High School of Dundee, Calum decided to train as a lawyer while seeing something of the world.

Of course, he could have gone to London: that would have been the easy thing to do. However, he not only wanted to be a good lawyer, but to spend some time outside the British Isles and learn something about other ways of life to his own. So he looked for a university among the best in Europe, and found IE University, a Spanish institution that ticked all the boxes: it’s international, multicultural, innovative, focuses on entrepreneurialism, and is in southern Europe, which is particularly appealing to somebody from the far north of Britain.

That was two years ago. Now, Calum is studying law in Segovia: a double degree that will allow him to practice in the United Kingdom and Spain. What’s more, his outstanding academic performance and proven entrepreneurial spirit helped him win a grant from Latham & Watkins for Entrepreneurial Law, which supports students that apply innovation to the world of law. The grant is a joint venture between IE and the US law firm.

Calum says he feels very much at home in Segovia’s multicultural, international environment, and has just been elected president of the student government. Aside from speaking English and Spanish, Calum is a fluent French speaker, and is learning Chinese, the language he says that will be most in demand this century. Calum seems to possess an innate talent for communication and recently won a campus debating competition held after an advanced seminar on how to structure a message, use one’s voice to the best advantage, and control one’s gestures and intonation. “We had to talk about ourselves, and present an argument to our audience, and in the end, I was the winner,” he says. The secret of a good presentation, he says, is simple: “You have to be self-confident, control your breathing, prepare your topic, be able to improvise, and above all, keep calm if you make a mistake.” In his opinion, the politician with the greatest communication skills is Barack Obama, “for the type of message he sends out, the way he can control his voice—it’s neither too strident nor weak—and the air of calm he transmits.”

A keen rugby fan—the most popular sport in Scotland—Calum has been playing the game since he was aged five. Such is the popularity of rugby in Scotland, that it is almost a passion: akin to the popularity of soccer in Spain, Italy, or Argentina. It will come as no surprise to learn that Calum is the founder and president of IE University’s rugby side, as well as its coach. At present there is a team with two sections: one in Segovia, the other in Madrid. IE University’s side recently took on the ESADE business school in a friendly, beating it 52 to 19. Smiling, Calum says he would like to have played professionally and to have taken part in the Six Nations, but admits: “I don’t think I really have the talent, although I’d love to have gone for it.” In the meantime, he will have to content himself with get togethers with fellow aficionados at the Lastrilla soccer ground just outside Segovia.

In his free time, Calum likes to enjoy a tapa or two with friends in the bars of Segovia’s old quarter such as the San Luis or el Sitio. “I love Segovia, it’s the ideal place to study and live, and everything is so close to hand,” he says. When he returns to Scotland, Calum says he will remember his times in Spain, the place where he learned to be a lawyer, and where he spent many happy hours.

Article published on Thursday, December 3, 2015 in El Adelantado de Segovia

Read the article (Spanish): El escocés inconformista

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