Next stop: John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin – European Studies! #2

It’s our second post about studying European Studies at the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin (KUL). Check what international students have to say about our studies!

Seungchul Baek (European Studies, III year)

Seungchul Baek (South Korea)

My name is Seungchul Baek, and I am a third-year student of European Studies at KUL. I still remember that I was not able to understand the first lecture at all, because of my terrible English at that time and partially because of the professors’ Polish accent I had never heard before I came here, but now I have already finished my dissertation and nearly finished the whole degree programme. It has been a great experience to study and live here for three years. I have learnt many things and met a variety of people I would have never met if I did not come here. I am proud of myself not only because of finishing my Bachelor’s degree successfully but also because of coming here where completely different people speak completely unfamiliar language for me.

I have always been interested in Europe since I was a child. For that reason, European Studies sounded like a perfect programme for me. There are some South Korean universities that have European studies, but I thought it would be better to come and see Europe on my own as I study, and it was the best choice in my life.

Sometimes Polish higher education is said to be loose in terms of workload. Some students from other countries say that they study a lot less here than they did in their home country. For that reason some say Polish education level is not as high as other countries’, but I disagree with it. Not only was the workload here enough for me, but also a tough system or a huge amount of workload does not mean that the country or the university has a good education system. Moreover, you learn many things outside the university by travelling and socialising. As I have been studying here, I have learnt many things for my life as well.

Valerian Karchava (Georgia)

Valerian Karchava (European Studies, II year)

My name is Valerian Karchava, and I come from Georgia. I am a 2nd year European Studies student at KUL. People often ask me why I chose this field of study and how I got know about KUL. Well, before coming to Poland I was studying Sociology at the Tbilisi State University. However, after a year of studying I began to realize that Sociology was not for me and decided to quit. My aim was to find some interesting course abroad that would be available to me but it seemed to be quite difficult. Since I was familiar with Poland and had also visited the country several times before I considered it would be the best idea to go there. After several days of searching I found European Studies course at the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin. When I read the description of the course I was very impressed and happy that I found exactly what I was looking for. Moreover, I knew from my Polish friends that KUL was quite well-known university in Poland. So, after passing certain recruitment steps I was accepted and started studying.

After 2 years of studying I can openly say that the European Studies programme is exactly what I was looking for. It is professionally oriented programme with a distinctly international character, preparing students for international careers in a wide range of fields. Through various types of lectures, exercises and workshops we become familiar with Europe and its many dimensions. This programme enables us to have a rich background in our European origins and development, it provides students with the opportunity to study contemporary European culture and society and its continuing impact upon today’s world. Furthermore, we learn about the European Union and its legal structure that is very useful for every European. European Studies programme provides the knowledge that I think is needed to have if you want to work in an international environment(such as European Union institutions), in the business community, a non-governmental organization or the civil service.

I would like to say that the study environment in the university is very good. Teachers are qualified, demanding and friendly at the same time and I am very happy with it.

So, if someone asks me if I am happy with my choice to study European studies at KUL, I would answer – yes! Yes because, I think, this field of study is very relevant to the time we live in now and it gives you many job opportunities in the future. So I encourage everyone who is interested in European culture, history, politics, functioning of the European Union and who dreams about working in the international environment to join European Studies at KUL!

Claudia Jacewicz (Poland/Germany)

Claudia Jacewicz („Erasmus student” at KUL)

I am a third year European Studies student from Bremen, Germany(Universität Bremen) and I am currently in the final stage of my Erasmus year here at KUL in Lublin. Since my bachelor degree course provides its students to make a semester abroad in the fifth semester, I had to look for a good university and destination. I decided to look for universities in Poland, because I wanted to improve my Polish, as it is part of my language courses in Germany. The three destinations I chose were Wrocław, Lublin and Łódź, but in the end I was accepted at KUL in Lublin. At first I was a bit disappointed, because I really wanted to study in Wrocław, but the whole situation changed once the semester at KUL had started.

The university has a lot of different courses to offer. Especially the faculty of European Studies offers a variety of courses in the field of law, history and culture, though the main focus is still law. Even though I am usually not very focused on law in my studies, I enjoyed the majority of my courses; it was refreshing to focus on something different and new.

However, it was not only the courses that were different: The concept and structure of my university (and maybe German universities in general) is quite different to KUL. Even though my bachelor degree course in Germany consists of a small number of students (slightly more than 30 students), lectures and seminars let me feel a bit anonymous. A relation between the professor and students is hardly establishable. This is different at KUL, since most professors are encouraged to get to know their students. Most lectures and seminars seem to be a bit more like school classes, which makes them more interactive and therefore interesting.

All in all I enjoyed my stay at KUL. I actually enjoyed it so much that I extended my stay from one semester to two semesters, so that speaks for itself. This year abroad will definitely be kept in good memory.

For more information on European Studies at the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin please visit:

http://www.kul.pl/european-studies,24210.html

BA in European Studies:

http://www.kul.pl/bachelor-of-arts-in-european-studies-curriculum,art_28136.html

MA in European Studies:

http://www.kul.pl/master-of-arts-in-european-studies-curriculum,art_28137.html

Admission for the year 2015/2016:

http://www.kul.pl/admission-procedure,art_34687.html

APPLY NOW!