Personal experience: a trip to Poland

Nina Halina, a member of Study Tours to Poland (STP) in 2015, told how to go to an international program, how Polish students celebrate student's day and why employers are so interested in internships abroad.

Study Tours to Poland is a program designed for active students aged 18 to 21 years. The participants of the program will spend 12 days at one of the Polish universities, taking an active part in various student and city events. Program is implemented annually, every autumn and spring, and applications for participation are accepted in summer and winter.

Where are you studying now?

Now I am studying in the magistracy of the Kharkov National University of Municipal Economy named after A.N. Beketov for a manager.

Why did you choose this particular program?

Before, I never thought about the fact that there are free programs abroad, in which you can take part. But I have a friend, and she is a very active person, she was the one who told me about her trip to Poland and motivated me to apply for this free program. At first I missed a year, but then I thought: "why am I losing such a good opportunity?"- and still decided to submit the documents.

What was the application process?

A friend told me everything that needs to be done and what documents are needed to participate in the Study Tours to Poland program. The application turned out to be very simple, no special efforts were needed: not even certificates of knowledge of the English language were required.You just had to fill out an application and write a letter of motivation explaining why you want to take part in the program. I wrote the motivation letter on my own, no one helped me, since I myself am a rather versatile and active person. In a motivation letter, I wrote that I want to develop and improve my communication skills with people from different countries and cultures, topicsmoreover, the program involved the participation of representatives from different countries: Ukraine, Russia, Moldova and Belarus.

Describe your typical day on Study Tours to Poland

Regarding the schedule, it should be noted that all activities were clearly scheduled, and the schedule itself,which we received from the project coordinator in advance was very tight. The Study Tours to Poland program meant that we would live in one city, but our project coordinator tried to make our program as interesting as possible: we lived not in one city, but in three cities - it was a small town Supra, l, then Bialystok, in whichwe spent most of the program, and we spent one day in Warsaw.

As for the daily routine, we usually got up at 7:00-7:30 am, after breakfast,went to pre-scheduled meetings. For example, there was a meeting with representatives of local government, together with volunteer philologists, we visited various events and organizations. We have been on radio, television and university. And also, of course, there was a cultural program, during which we attended various holidays held in the city.

What events on Study Tours to Poland were the most memorable?

In fact, I would mark everything, since we were there for 12 days and every day was something interesting. We were at private enterprises, for example, at an enterprise for the production of agricultural machinery, where we were told the history of the formation of this business and the specifics of modern agricultural production. Our group included economists, managers, ecologists and philologists. And everyone found something interesting for themselves in their own direction. For me, as a manager, everything was interesting, but I would especially note the meeting with politicians and the meeting in the business area. We visited a business club in Bialystok, where city entrepreneurs hold closed meetings, discuss joint projects and exchange contacts. This the club was founded not only to raise problems and talk about entrepreneurial activity, but also to find like-minded people and colleagues.

If we take the cultural direction, then most of all I was struck by the museum of icons in the city of Supral, as well as the day of the student and the day of youth. The holiday is called Juwenalia Day and the youth celebrate it for three days.

In general, this, of course, was an incredible trip: more than a year has passed, and the memories remained just as warm. STP is the program that will help young people to open up, find themselves, change their view of the world and make loyal friends.

Do you think this experience helps with employment?

When I got a job in Kiev at an English language school, they were very interested in my participation in this program and the program itself. I was asked a lot about what I was doing there, what I was doing. Basically, when I later went through interviews, everyone asked and asked about this experience. It seems to me that participation in such events testifies to the fact that a person has an active life position, that he can do something, that he has already seen something.

What are your plans for the near future?

Study Tours to Poland gave me the opportunity to participate in their program of creating our own projects, where we were trained to make our own social projects so that we could successfully implement them. I was selected successfully and received a grant. So, in the spring of 2016, she implemented her own project. The project was dedicated to safe cycling in the metropolis. With the lack of urban infrastructure, this often becomes a serious problem that needs to be addressed somehow. During the implementation of my project, experienced speakers at seminars taught both adults and young children to drive correctly and safely. So now, when I am already finishing my studies, I am thinking of two options:either stay in Kharkov and continue doing social projects, or go as a volunteer to EVS.