Nice to meet you!
Hello everyone! My name is Andreea and talking about myself is just about the most terrifying thing someone could possibly ask me to do. It’s right up there with petting a giant spider or going swimming with crocodiles. Nevertheless, I do occasionally like to think of myself as brave so here it goes. Who I am in 300 words or more.
I’m an International Master’s student in the Russian, Central and East European Studies programme. It's a two-year degree, which means that next year I will be studying somewhere in Eastern Europe. It also means that my time here in Glasgow is mostly spent surrounded by books on the Soviet Union, socialism and its lingering effects on today’s world. It’s a fascinating topic and if it occasionally leads to my wishing for a Time Turner of the Hermione Granger variety, it’s only because there’s just so much that I want to read and learn beyond the scope of my dissertation! Speaking of which, I’m currently looking at the evolution of state attitudes and policies towards minorities throughout the socialist period.
Anyway, I did say I was going to talk about myself and not drone on about my dissertation. Originally from Romania, I have been moving around Europe for the past six years and have lived in Switzerland, Scotland and briefly in Spain before spending some time back in Bucharest as a journalist. This September, I decided to return to Scotland and begin a master’s degree. In terms of what I want to do once I graduate, I have a few plans and a few ideas but nothing is set in stone so far.
Some of the hobbies I have nowhere near enough time for are playing squash, reading obscure fantasy books, cooking and photography. If only I could add more hours to the day and days to the week!
In the interest of keeping this short, I will finish with what I plan on writing for the blog. There’s a fair chance there’ll be plenty of articles on how to survive uni (and have fun while at it!), students’ mental health and social issues like equality, discrimination, etc., helpful resources for post-grads, interesting people to look up to, new developments within the university but also outside of it that affect us as post-grads, and many other topics that I hope will also come from you.
At the end of the day, this blog is for you and your input is incredibly important so please don’t be shy. Comment on my posts, email me, follow us on Twitter — I’m very eager to hear from you!