5 min read
My name is Vlad, and I attended Summer School in 2022. I was a recipient of the Academic Director’s Scholarship, and in this blog, I will talk about my scholarship experience, as well as how it helped me beyond Summer School.
Why I applied to Summer School
My Summer School and scholarship application process started in April 2022. It was a time of uncertainty as it was the second month of full-scale war in my home country Ukraine. I had recently moved to the Austrian capital Vienna for my exchange programme, and I was trying to understand my role in the new reality. The drastic changes made my previous big goals unrealistic.
I decided I wanted to contribute to the post-war reconstruction and development of Ukraine. I started to actively research different academic programs that might assist me on this path. Eventually, I discovered the Department of International Development at ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳, with some of the most prominent faculty members in the world, and I knew right away that I wanted to study here.
As a first step towards my degree in Development Studies, I applied for IR207: Development in the International Political Economy at ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ Summer School 2022. It was taught by Professor Tim Forsyth from the Department of International Development. This class was an invaluable introduction to the field and a great summary of the most important topics in international development.
My experience of the Academic Director's Scholarship
To participate in this course, I applied for the ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ Academic Director’s Scholarship. It is a merit-based scholarship that is open to students who show exceptional talent and passion in one of three areas: Responsible Leadership, or Technology, Media & Society, or Sustainability and Development. It is a highly competitive scholarship with hundreds of applicants each year. Therefore, I was very excited to receive an email just a month later with the information that I had become one of the nine recipients in 2022.
This scholarship allowed me to fully engage in the summer programme. I was able to experience student life in London and engage in amazing discussions with students from different universities and diverse backgrounds. During those three weeks, I learned a lot about other cultures, made new friends, and expanded my understanding of development in the global world.
The summer school experience was fantastic, and it motivated me to pursue further studies in the Department of International Development at ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳. I applied for the MSc in Development Studies and got an acceptance letter in July. This programme is demanding yet interesting, with a perfect combination of academics and practitioners among both the students and teachers. Thanks to my previous experience at ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ Summer School, I had a good foundation for this program and was well-prepared for better integration into the field.
This blog was written by one of our 2022 Student Ambassadors, who are here to share their stories and help you understand the summer school experience at ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳.