My name is Laura Forcella and I come from Rome. I started my academic and professional path in the field of languages, with a specialisation in diplomatic and legal sectoral languages. Indeed, I’ve always had a strong passion for intercultural communication and international environments, where people, coming from different backgrounds, can meet to share their cultures, ideas and broaden their horizons. This led me to undertake an internship at the British Embassy to the Holy See, where I had the chance to work and carry out research on key issues, such as climate change, children's right to education and gender's inequalities and, later on, I volunteered in the republic of Kenya, Kajiado county, with the association La Nostra Africa Onlus, to work on a project aimed at promoting women's right and girls' education in rural area. Thanks to these experiences, I realized that I want to pursue a career in international cooperation and development, more specifically in projects investing in rural areas to advance gender equality and child development. For this reason I decided to apply for master MESCI. I believe that this program will provide me with practical, analytical and quantitative tools, necessary to understand and evaluate the dynamics of specific environments, enabling me to start my career path in the field of development and cooperation and be part of a change that has never been more urgent. I am so grateful for this opportunity!