Xiaohongshu
Being bold and being you: Danielle Amouzou-Akue on finding your own path.
2nd Year BA German
Danielle thought she knew what her path should look like, but after a missed offer led her to UCL, where she learned to forge her own path. Now, in her second year, she knows forging your own path helps you stand out.
Danielle grew up in Essex, but always felt the whole world was her home. Her parents are from Ghana and Togo, and languages were a part of everyday life: her mum speaks English and Twi, her dad speaks French and Ewe. She read books from around the world, and her curiosity with other cultures grew. So, taking on German as another language felt natural.
Learning German hasn’t only been about adding a language on her CV.
"A second language opens up the world, and a language is valuable for your career. But studying German is not just about language, it's also about culture."
As a Young Goethe Ambassador, Danielle shares that cultural curiosity with school students, encouraging them to take German at GCSE and A-level.
At UCL, Danielle has continued to share her love of discovering a culture alongside a language. As German Course Rep. She created a quick feedback form for her cohort and passed responses on to the faculty lead, including a push for more film in the literature modules, to bring in more pop culture.
Danielle is also a Bright Network Ambassador, a member of the Women in Finance Society and the Economics and Finance Society, and studying German wasn’t the conventional choice for someone interested in careers in finance and law. Recently, at a Bright Network event, 20 of her 22 peers were studying economics, once feeling different would have been hard, but Danielle feels studying German is what makes her stand out.
Forging her own path has given Danielle the confidence to be herself, including in spaces where she may be underrepresented. At a recent Bright Network panel, “Being bold and being you”, a speaker explained that she chose her workplace because it was where she could be herself. The idea has stayed with Danielle.
“It’s about being exactly who you are and being courageous enough to be yourself everywhere. Studying German felt like being authentically me.”
Danielle wants other students to know that you don’t have to follow the expected route to get where you want to be.