Thoughts from a Global Citizen

#1 A global citizen asking questions about school, society, and tomorrow.

👉 🇫🇷 Cet article est également disponible en français sur Substack.

✦ Why this newsletter?

July 2025.

For the past eight years, I’ve dedicated my time – often well beyond working hours – to developing an international tutoring agency.

Eight years of meeting families, exchanging with teachers from all over the world, observing school systems across continents, analyzing their strengths and blind spots… and asking myself a lot of questions.

Over time, though, some of these questions have turned into convictions — about what school should be, what education should transmit, and what children, everywhere in the world, deserve to experience in order to grow up with clarity, balance, and freedom.

The world has changed. Fast.

But school sometimes still runs as if we were in the 19th century. Can we really prepare today’s children with yesterday’s tools?

This newsletter, Thoughts from a Global Citizen, was born out of a need: the need to pause, to take a step back, and rethink what we believe we know about education — about pedagogy, success, student well-being, knowledge transmission, the role of teachers… and that of parents.

Each article will be published in both English (on LinkedIn) and French (on Substack), to make this reflection accessible to an international audience: parents, educators, curious minds, and fellow global citizens.

✦ What will we talk about here?

To be honest, I don’t have a strict editorial plan — and that’s intentional.

This newsletter is a space for reflection. I’ll be sharing thoughts, personal insights, and observations drawn from my everyday life, work, travels, and conversations with families, educators, and children around the world.

I’ll also react to topics that spark my interest — whether they relate to education, childhood, cultural identity, global schooling systems, or simply the questions that society raises at a given moment.

Some ideas will be shaped by experience, others by books, podcasts, articles, or a passing conversation that stays with me.

You may agree or disagree — and that’s the whole point. This space is meant to open up dialogue, not close it.

So if you’re curious, open-minded, and willing to reflect (and sometimes question what you think you know), I hope you’ll feel at home here.

✦ Who am I?

In 2025, I’m 36.

I come from a bicultural family — a Russian father and a French mother — and I grew up in Moscow, where I attended the Lycée Français de Moscou all the way to graduation, earning my French Baccalauréat in 2007 (with honors).

I then moved to Paris for a scientific preparatory program (PTSI, then PT) at Lycée Raspail, before being admitted to École des Mines d’Alès, where I completed a three-year degree in engineering.

But in 2017, I made a bold decision: I left engineering behind to fully dedicate myself to building Axiom Academic , an international tutoring agency designed to support:

• expat families,
• multilingual children,
• and nontraditional academic journeys.

Since then, education has become my work, my passion, and my field of reflection.

I spend a large part of my time on the ground, meeting with families, understanding their needs, and collaborating closely with our network of tutors.

That means traveling frequently across the Middle East, Asia, Australia, the United States, Africa, and of course, Europe.

For those who like astrology or personality types: I was born on June 20th, which makes me a Gemini — with a Gemini rising. According to the MBTI test, I’m an ENFP-T.

Make of that what you will 😉

✦ Welcome

Whether you’re a parent, a teacher, an education professional, or simply a curious global citizen, this newsletter is for you.

See you soon for the first article !