Kateryna's story

"When I have a feeling that I actually made a difference today, that’s where I feel the happiest."

I think I’m most happy when I have the most in my day. I’m working part-time as a tutor, I’m working on other projects and I’m really passionate also about sustainability and awareness. So, if I have a full day of events and when I have a feeling that I actually made a difference today, that’s when I feel the happiest.

The hardest thing is figuring out what you want to do with your life, and I think that’s the hard part for most students. For me myself, I really care about the environment and I’m doing my part which I’m happy about. I would say to other people just try to find what kind of person you are and what it is you care about.

I did the sustainability summer school which I strongly recommend. My group was the pilot group and the first people who had ever done it and I think there was about 15 of us. We all benefited from it because we increased our awareness from broad aspects to things such as resilience and recycling. I would say right now I’m focusing on an annual government conference ran by students, it’s not specifically about sustainability but I asked my managers if I could theme it around that. We are going to have some environmental politics papers in there. We also have another pilot course which is called community engagement, and this is about increasing sustainability awareness on campus. We have done a lot of things around this such as giving out reusable bottles and we were on the squares promoting sustainability week.

My course has a broadness and a choice, so I can do whatever I want. I came here thinking more about political aspects, but to be honest I’m not the best debater or politician and it’s all about learning about yourself and what you’re capable of. It’s really diverse as well, so since it’s so flexible you can shape yourself and find what is suitable for you. I think I’m getting there and I think I want to be involved with sustainability and I want to make our economies more sustainable. I understand sustainability matches me, and economics and politics matches me. I just need to figure out how to combine these three together and just go for it.