Coordinator of the 'Teraz Wroclaw' project, Alla Vitvitska-Dudek, says that life and study abroad really does resemble a jungle at first:
- On one hand, for a young person going to study in another country is an exciting adventure, but on the other hand, you have to be prepared for difficulties. Here, far from home, family and friends, the law of survival kicks in. Either you cope, or you go home to your mom.
The participants of the 'Teraz Wroclaw' project are already finishing their first year of study at Wroclaw's higher education institutions. And despite the exam session being in full swing, some of them willingly agreed to tell what it's like to study in Poland, and also shared their experience of 'life in the jungle'.
Olga Khmil studies at the University of Wroclaw; before that she graduated from Ivan Franko National University of Lviv with a degree in mathematics. She came to Poland for a dream – to study psychology. It was this, according to Olga, that gave her strength. Even though there were moments when she desperately wanted to give up everything.
- When I remember my first day at university, I get scared! It's very hard to find yourself in an environment where you feel weaker than others. Because I didn't know Polish at all. When during the first classes they read assignments aloud, I kept going 'to the toilet,' Olga recalls with a smile now. – But very soon everything worked out, I was supported by my Polish teacher from the project. I passed the first session relatively easily, I'm happy with the results. And most importantly – I always think that psychology is what I wanted so much, and now I have a wonderful opportunity to realize this dream. Studying here is a pleasure: the teachers prepare the material to present exactly the most important and interesting things. So I am sincerely surprised by my classmates who sometimes complain that 'it's hard to study' – they don't know what it's like to search for the necessary information from a stream of useless information, as most Ukrainian students do…
With her Polish colleagues, as Olya says, she has good relations. But there are also peculiarities. For instance, Polish students are in no hurry to give hints, offer their notes, or help in general. Although if you ask, they will definitely come to the rescue. Well, such are the laws of the jungle!
Master's student at Wroclaw University of Economics and student at the Lower Silesian University of Public Service ASESOR, Lyudmila Kucherezhko, came to Wroclaw from Ternopil, where she had already graduated from the National Economic University. She dreams of working in a large financial company doing consulting. She loves to travel and has already visited the USA, France, Switzerland, Monaco, Italy, Germany, and the Czech Republic.
- I study financial markets and am very satisfied with the new material and interesting research I get here. We also have a lot of practice – exchange students even said that there is much more practical training here than in Germany, for example. Foreign teachers often visit us. All this allows us to keep up with the times, says Lyudmila. – In general, if we talk about the education system in Poland, it differs from ours. First of all, there are fewer subjects. If in Ukraine I took 18 exams per semester, here it's only five. Of course, it's unrealistic to learn all 18 subjects equally well, but to pass exams on five subjects, you have to study them thoroughly. Each course is very extensive, packed with material. Here the testing system of knowledge assessment is predominant. And I like that because you immediately see the result you need to achieve.
Was it difficult to get into and now study at prestigious Wroclaw universities? – today Ukrainian students unanimously say that nothing is difficult. Carefully prepared documents, knowledge (or willingness to learn!) of the Polish language, high grades in the certificate, plus self-confidence – and you're a student!
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