My name is Nataliia Kravtsiv, I am a 22-year-old girl from Ukraine.

I got my Bachelor’s in
economics at Lviv Polytechnic National University.

I took my academics very seriously, wrote 3 publications and worked hard for only A grades
and an academic scholarship I received. However, no education is complete without
experience. Armed with a solid fundamental knowledge about the economic field I got a
half-year internship at Nestle Business Service in Lviv. Now I am studying for a master's
degree in personal management at Vistula University in Warsaw. My plan after graduation is
to implement gained experience working for an international company in Ukraine.   

During my study in Ukraine I wasn’t totally satisfied with the methods of learning. Some of
our lecturers used to just read verbatim from the textbook. What I found the most
interesting about The European University of Lisbon is that students experience business
reality in the classroom by developing real projects. I tried such kind of learning during a
practical one-year training-competition called Diamond Boot Camp, held by the Dutch
Company “Diamond FMS B.V.” and fall in love with learning by doing. It was a simulation of
creating a business with lots of unique features and variations. We had to achieve the
maximum earning capacity of our ice-cream producing company by daily decision-making in
cooperation with the team members. Making a business plan, analyzing a profit and loss
statement and a balance sheet, comparing revenues and expenses was both interesting and
practical.  

I am impressed by the values of the University. One of them is to prepare professionals for a
world without borders, encouraging contact with other cultures. My first time volunteering
abroad was in the age of 19. I spent three weeks in Berlin helping social workers with
refugee children from Turkey, Syria, Egypt, and Iraq. I had been living in a Ukrainian village,
where nobody is really different, where everyone knows each other since I was born.
Imagine my thrill and excitement when we organized a festival for those poor children! It
changed my mindset, and I was looking forward to the next project. Next summer I
understood that I could do more and became a campleader at IJGD Media workcamp in
Bremen. A year after that I led a similar camp in Hildesheim. It’s a responsible role, but
coordinating  volunteering activities as a campleader, I learn something new about other
people and their cultures every day by communication between the local community and a
group of volunteers from abroad.

Erasmus+ is not only about learning. The reason I have applied to this programme is that I
would like to broaden my horizon, and I am eager to discover the foreign culture and to get
international experience. Besides, my hobby is languages, now I’m learning German. I speak
Ukrainian, Polish, Russian and I surely will be glad to learn basic Portuguese. My current job
is an English tutor, but it’s never too late to learn. I will be happy to improve my English by
studying and interacting with students from all over the world.

As the topic of my Bachelor’s thesis was `Evaluating the results of sustainable development
on the example of Nestle corporation`, I appreciate that The European University promotes
an entrepreneurial attitude, based on the principle of social responsibility. It’ll help me to
deepen my knowledge in this field.

I’m thankful for having the opportunity to apply for the Erasmus + programme. I am assured
that it will give me the knowledge and skills to enrich my personal and professional lives.