Second-year student of the specialty 053 Psychology of the Faculty of Philology, Psychology and Pedagogy of Poltava Polytechnic Kateryna Manzhalii became a participant of the grant program "Study Tours to Poland" (STP), which took place from May 10 to 20, 2024 in the Polish city of Łódź, with the support of Fundacja organizations Edukacji i Rozwoju Społeczesta Obywatelskiego FERSO and the "Leaders of Change" and "Borussia" foundations.
A student of Yuri Kondratyuk National University shared her impressions of participating in the grant program:
"The program was so full of various activities aimed at introducing young people to the advantages and disadvantages of being a member of the European Union, the work of non-governmental organizations, student life in Poland and volunteering opportunities.
The first day was memorable for meeting our team, because these are new people with whom we worked for almost two weeks.
One of our organizers is a history teacher, so he was the one who gave us the first lecture on the functioning of non-governmental organizations in Poland and their financing. On the same day, we met with volunteers with whom we cooperated throughout the program.
On the second day, we had the opportunity to familiarize ourselves with Polish cuisine, discussed how it differs from Ukrainian, and what unusual dishes are there in Poland and Ukraine. After the discussion, each participant had the opportunity to practice making Polish crepes.
"How to express yourself through creativity" was the name of the second event of the day. A decoupage workshop was held for us, where we decorated glass jars to use them as candle holders.
On the third day, we visited a children's hospice, where we were told about its functioning, the purpose of such institutions, and funding. One of the directors of the hospice noted that it is important for them that the children feel content even while there, because the administration does everything to fulfill the dreams of their little patients. After this visit, we had a lecture on the structure and tasks of Polish self-government. The third event was a visit to the "Strong in Spirit" chamber, which is located near the church, where additional classes on school subjects, foreign language courses, theater and vocal art are held for children.
The next day we visited the City Hall of Łódź. There we were introduced to how the elections to their city administration are held, how the measures proposed by citizens are financed and whether all citizens can offer their ideas. At the same time, they had a lecture on coaching, where I first learned about this method as a way to improve my competence.
At the Institute of New Technologies, we listened to a lecture about the European Union for young people, learned about the prospects for the youth of a country that is part of the EU.
We also visited the Łódź History Museum, learned a lot of interesting facts about this city and its existence, especially about the functioning of factories on its territory, met with students of the University of Łódź, learned about their student life, studies, the education system in Poland, the experience of accepting students , who had to leave Ukraine because of the war.
We were told about the impact of Poland's membership in the European Union on the lives of residents, about the advantages and disadvantages of the country being a member of the EU, whether the residents are satisfied and what they would like to change.
Besides that, we visited the "multitheque" - a modern library where you can find everything from science fiction to modern Marvel comics. There you can use musical instruments located in a separate hall, build something with Lego, and even try yourself at being an airplane pilot.
The lecture on the functioning of business in Poland and the training were very interesting and rich, during which we analyzed the archetypes of people using the example of characters from the cartoon "Winnie the Pooh" and how to work and communicate with each archetype.
However, the meeting with the ambassador of the Polish Sejm, who told us about how he came from a school English teacher to such a position, what he did to achieve such success and what we should pay attention to if we want to succeed is what I personally found most interesting. During the conversation with him, we learned about how the Sejm and the Senate function, the difference between them, and how elections are held.
In addition, we met with volunteers from Azerbaijan, Turkey and Poland and learned how to become a volunteer in the European Union, what their tasks are, whether it is possible to choose a country and a city for volunteering.
On the day before the last day of our stay in Poland, we visited its capital - Warsaw, in particular, we saw the old town, the history museum, the royal palace, the Polish Sejm and Senate, the government of Poland’s President and the presidential office, and also learned about the history of Polish parliamentarism.
On the last day, we summed up our visit, where each of the participants noted what useful she learned, what new knowledge she received, and how she will use it in the future.
In general, it is uneasy to describe all the emotions you feel after the completion of the project, because it was such an interesting and rich 10-day-long stay in Poland. For me, as a future psychologist, it became a very useful experience, because we had the opportunity to communicate with a large number of people with an active public position, different views, and, most importantly, a desire for improvement," says Kateryna Manzhalii.
Soon, the "Leaders of Change" Foundation and the "Borussia" Foundation will open a new recruitment for participation in the "Study Tours to Poland" (STP) Program for motivated and active youth from Moldova and Ukraine. The purpose of this program is to create an opportunity for people from different countries to meet and get to know each other. In this way, they want to build and develop relations in our part of Europe. People, institutions and organizations from Poland, who share their success stories and challenges with the participants, are the guides in this process.
To participate in STP, candidates are selected on a competitive basis.
Recently, students of the Polytechnic became participants in the "Study Tours to Poland" (STP) program in Bielsko-Biala, Toruń, Wroclaw and Warsaw (2024), Wroclaw, Gdańsk and Toruń (2023).
Earlier, Polytechnic student Valeria Dubovyk became a participant of youth exchange under the Erasmus+ program "Hide and Seek - Games for Inclusion" in Italy (September 1 - September 9, 2023) and volunteering under the ESC program (June 12, 2023 - July 12, 2023) in the city Bergolo, Italy.
Recently, polytechnic scientists take part in the mobility programme at University of Applied Sciences in Burgenland, university and college students present their projects at the international conference in Istanbul, polytechnic representatives take part in a scientific conference at Białystok University of Technology, students of the Polytechnic Institute of Finance, Economics, Management and Law spoke about the peculiarities of studying under the Erasmus+ credit academic mobility program at the University of Applied Sciences - University of Applied Sciences FACHHOCHSCHULE BURGENLAND in the city of Eisenstadt.
It should be noted that Poltava Polytechnic students have the opportunity to study abroad under Erasmus+ credit academic mobility grant programs for a semester or an entire academic year at leading universities in Austria, Greenland, Denmark, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Norway, the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Finland, the Czech Republic.
For more detailed information about current academic mobility programs, contact the international relations department (room 320-Ф, interoffice@nupp.edu.ua) or the coordinator of international activities of the National University «Yuri Kondratyuk Poltava Polytechnic» - Doctor of Philology, assistant professor of the department of Germanic philology and translation Anna Kostyantynivna Pavelieva (room 310-Ц, email: kunsite.zi@gmail.com, phone: +38(095)-91-08-192).
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