Kateryna Bodasiuk (Vilnius, Lithuania), a graduate of the Department of Political Science and International Relations, the Institute of the Humanities and Social Sciences, Lviv Polytechnic National University, shared her impressions of her studies.
– I am a graduate of International Relations degree, specialization International Relations, Public Communications and Regional Studies at the Institute of the Humanities and Social Sciences. Today I work in Vilnius as an International Subpoena Specialist at Western Union. We receive requests from major police stations in various countries about people suspected of fraud, money laundering, human trafficking, terrorism, etc. I work with officers from France, Estonia, Belarus and Ukraine.
I would like to emphasize that the educational program at Lviv Polytechnic provided me with basic professional skills in International Relations, and my internship experience at the Consulate of Lithuania in Lviv was also very useful and fruitful. I researched modern Ukrainian-Lithuanian cooperation and received a scholarship to study for a Master’s degree in Lithuania.
To be honest I want to say that today, as my experience in an international company shows, it is important and useful for students and young International Relations professionals to acquire more practical skills. It is important for students to combine work and study. Internships abroad are also very important. I had the opportunity to undergo my internships in Spain, Valencia, as well as in Brussels, participating in Lithuanian Seim in the EU.
I especially want to emphasize the importance of learning foreign languages. Being abroad I made sure that it is important for a modern student to choose elective courses. They include, in particular, language courses. In my case, it was French – because it is the language of diplomacy. So I would suggest expanding the number of elective courses for our educational program, especially with the involvement of the practical component.
I believe that Erasmus programmes and proficiency in a foreign language became important for me in my profession, my professional formation and development.
If there is such an opportunity, I will be very glad to meet with students and academic staff of the Department of Political Science and International Relations, share my experience and tell about internship opportunities.