My secondary education was at a grammar school in Manchester that specialised in languages, so I was looking for a university with an excellent reputation for language studies.
Choosing Southampton
Studying a minimum of three languages was essential for me, but the course needed to come with real quality and opportunity. Southampton met all of these requirements and I enrolled on the BA in Modern Languages: French, Spanish and German course.
Immersion, not just instruction
There is a warm feeling across campus; you live and learn in a supportive environment, surrounded by students with a genuine interest in languages and culture. I made friends on the course who are still my closest friends 15 years later. I think we were brought together by a common passion and curiosity for languages.
Learning languages alongside the context of the countries where they are spoken allows you to really immerse yourself in that language and the culture. Studying 3 languages opened up doors for me that I didn't have before, like looking for jobs in other countries. It gave me an exceptional base for self-development and paved the way for my Master's, which then led me into a career in international affairs.
BA Modern Languages gave me friends and knowledge for life as well as a priceless experience
Veronika, BA Modern Languages graduate
A year that changed everything
I was fortunate enough to be accepted for an Erasmus year at the University of Strasbourg, which sits on the France and Germany border. I wanted to keep practising German while still living in France – living in France had been a long-term dream of mine. It was a truly exceptional experience. I felt incredibly at home and made friends for life.
Living in Strasbourg opened opportunities and expanded my worldview to new levels. I lived at the edge of the city, right by the European Parliament, which I saw from my window every day.
Three months into my year abroad, in late 2013, a revolution started in my home country of Ukraine. Seeing one of the key European decision-making centres from my very window inspired me to organise manifestations in support of Ukraine. As Ukraine re-established its pro-European path, I became inspired to delve into EU-Ukraine relations. Little did I know that this would be the starting building block of a career in this very field.
From Strasbourg to Brussels
My year in Strasbourg made me realise I was interested in international relations, so I picked more relevant modules in my final year. It was during that final year that I was accepted to the College of Europe, to study at the Natolin campus in Warsaw, made possible only thanks to a generous scholarship from the Brunat Fund.
During my MA in European Interdisciplinary Studies, I focused on the EU's external action towards its Eastern Neighbourhood, and wrote my Master's thesis on the role of Ukrainian civil society in advancing reforms in the anti-corruption sphere.
That work opened the door to the European Endowment for Democracy, where I joined as an intern in 2017, after a Bluebook internship at the European Commission. I'm now Deputy Programme Manager of the flagship Ukraine portfolio, and I've been living in Brussels since September 2016.
My time at Southampton
My Southampton experience gave me a foundation that would set me up for an incredibly rich life. BA Modern Languages gave me friends and knowledge for life as well as a priceless experience abroad that helped me to build the foundation blocks for assimilating abroad in Poland and then in Belgium. I will be eternally grateful to all the wonderful French, Spanish and German teachers for giving me their gift through teaching – a gift that keeps on giving.