Master student of “Architecture of Buildings and Structures” study programme of Educational and Research Institute of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Land Management of the National University “Yuri Kondratyuk Poltava Polytechnic” Polina Ostapenko completed her studies under the Erasmus+ Credit Academic Mobility Programme at Estonian University of Natural Sciences, where she studied during the spring semester of the academic year 2023/2024.
The future architect shared her impressions of studying at the partner university:
“And just like that five months of studying at the Estonian University of Eesti Maaülikool have passed. The time flew by quickly, but intensely – a lot of new knowledge, daily English, many new friends and even more wonderful emotions.
The learning was meaningful and interesting, sometimes a little difficult, as I had to study highly specialised information in English. There were many things that surprised and impressed me. For example, the individual approach to teaching each subject. Many lectures were held outside the university as excursions. We had the opportunity to see all the examples, which was incredibly interesting. We also travelled as a group outside the city to inspect the objects of study to make all the necessary measurements, take photos and make notes. All the objects and areas we worked with are real, current issues in Estonia. We even had the opportunity to communicate with the specialists working with these objects and discuss pressing issues as well as make suggestions.
Several courses involved teamwork, which developed our communication skills and good group organisation. Everyone felt responsible for their part of the work, which significantly increased its quality and efficiency.
Some courses involved researching an object in each student’s home country. This made it easier to find information. As a result, everyone was interested in learning how the same problem is solved in different countries.
Writing course projects, reports, and presentations at university involves detailed work on mistakes after submission. This is a great opportunity to improve your grade and learn the material properly.
In addition to studying, an exchange student’s free time is filled with various activities. The ESN (Erasmus Student Network) organises a large number of them. During the academic semester, you have the opportunity to attend excursions to interesting and authentic places in Estonia, learn more about the country, and immerse yourself in the atmosphere of Estonian culture and traditions with your friends. In addition, each week was filled with a variety of activities: karaoke, board games, quests, photo contests, evenings of different cultures, dance classes, outdoor yoga, pool parties, a language cafe, movie nights, visits to an animal shelter, and much more.
And in 2024, the city of Tartu, as the heart of Estonia’s education, took on the honourable role of the European Capital of Culture, so many exciting and diverse programmes were organised for both locals and tourists from all over the world.
My time in Estonia flew by incredibly quickly. I am grateful to my university, Poltava Polytechnic, for the opportunity to come here as an exchange student. It was an incredibly useful experience, and now I have new knowledge gained at an Estonian university, many friends from different parts of the world and unforgettable memories. I definitely wish everyone to have such an experience,” – says the Erasmus+ mobility programme participant.
Earlier, four Polytechnic students completed their studies under the Erasmus+ academic mobility programme at the Romanian university “Aurel Vlaicu” University of Arad, a Polytechnic student became a participant of the Polish-Ukrainian youth exchange under the Erasmus+ programme in Motycz Leśny near Lublin, future translators studied practical cases of integrating EU youth goals by joining the Erasmus+ project in Turkey, Polytechnic students in Poland studied youth approaches to the development of environmental projects at the regional and national levels, and student translators took part in an Erasmus+ youth exchange in Italy and studied how children’s games can teach teamwork, creativity, self-reflection and social integration; a philology student, Diana Abbasova, took part in the Erasmus+ youth worker mobility project in Turkey; a second-year student of speciality 035 “Philology”, Alina Alieksieieva, took part in the Erasmus+ youth exchange in Spain, dedicated to the influence of social media on young people; a student of Poltava Polytechnic took part in the grant programme “Study Tours to Poland”, a philology student took part in a youth exchange dedicated to inclusion in Romania, Polytechnic students took part in a youth exchange dedicated to discrimination and gender inequality, studied the preservation of natural resources and economic growth of young people through a healthy lifestyle, and a student translator took part in a youth project against discrimination, xenophobia and bullying, Polytechnic students took part in the Erasmus+ project dedicated to the development of environmental awareness among Europeans and held a charity auction; philology students learned practical skills in the field of ecology and environmental protection, they considered the problem of alcohol addiction and methods of combating it, they raised awareness of cultural diversity, and they studied the problem of migrants and internally displaced persons.
It should be noted that students of Poltava Polytechnic have the opportunity to study abroad under the grant programmes of credit academic mobility for a semester or a whole academic year at the leading universities of Austria, Greenland, Denmark, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Norway, the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Finland, and the Czech Republic.
For more information about the current academic mobility programmes, please contact the International Relations Department (room 320-F, interoffice@nupp.edu.ua) or the Coordinator of International Cooperation of National University “Yuri Kondratyuk Poltava Polytechnic” – Candidate of Philological Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Germanic Philology and Translation Anna Kostiantynivna Pavelieva (room 310-C, email: kunsite.zi@gmail.com, phone: +3-8-(095)-91-08-192).
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National University “Yuri Kondratyuk Poltava Polytechnic”
