McGill shaped me as a thinker and adult like few other factors in my life. My weird major/minor concentrations in engineering and philosophy totally stretched my brain and unlocked an ability to think creatively that I don't think most people get (or are forced through).
McGill's extremely high-quality international culture exposed me to people and ideas from all around the world that I cherish and reflect on to this day. All of my assumptions, opinions, and beliefs were challenged daily in and outside the classroom. I really valued the diverse and extreme opinions of different people at McGill, and how passionate and important topics were discussed openly all the time. This demonstrated very clearly to me the need to think through your arguments and to triangulate them well, and to quickly disabuse yourself of an opinion the second you realize it is wrong. It taught me how to "fail fast" in all facets of my life, and to learn and grow quickly.
McGill had true diversity of thought that very few environments in the world actually have, which I can now see is an incredibly valuable attribute of a community. And we cannot forget the legal drinking age of 18 in Quebec as a key factor in the ability to exchange diverse ideas fluidly.
Alexander Grant was named one of the 2021 Forbes 30 under 30 in Energy for his work on reducing the environmental impacts of lithium extraction and processing for the EV battery industry.