Episode 25: Rik Rutten graduated from LUC in the summer of 2015 with a BA in International Development and a minor in World Politics. After LUC, he spent a year doing internships and trying his first swings at freelance journalism, before completing a two-years master's at Uppsala University's Department of Peace and Conflict Studies. Now, at 25, Rik works in The Hague as a political editor at NRC, a Dutch daily newspaper. Among other things, he composes the paper's daily political newsletter, De Haagse Stemming (https://www.nrc.nl/dehaagsestemming/), covering the daily beat in The Hague.

This episode's motto: "Take the path that works for you, no matter what forest you end up in."

__Links of interest__

Michael Lewis, The Case Against Abroad: https://newrepublic.com/article/77526/the-case-against-abroad

Rik's first paid story (in Dutch), which directly came out of his LUC thesis: https://decorrespondent.nl/3749/deze-stad-laat-zien-oorlog-is-vermijdbaar/520541009538-e4bc4ae9

Rik's first English paid story: https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/articles/20824/why-once-welcoming-countries-in-scandinavia-closed-their-borders-to-refugees