Student Blog

Ukrainian student of TLU: Estonia is a country that gives new life to each of us

Our Ukrainian student Veronika Yashkina shares her thoughts on studies at Tallinn University and helping Ukrainians during this awful war.

Veronika Yashkina

What do you study at Tallinn University?

I'm a Ukrainian third-year Crossmedia student at Baltic Film, Media and Arts School.

How has your study experience been thus far?

Studying at Tallinn University has been one of the most unique and rewarding experiences of my life. Communicating and working with different international people is really exciting. Every day I’ve learned about new cultures, mentalities, and lifestyles. I can say that living in an international society, I’ve become a combination of different cultures while saving my own spirit. 

I am grateful to every caring Estonian for the warm welcome of every Ukrainian, and for their willingness to help and support.

What I like the most about the university is that here we learn to be humans. We are taught that the world is far from being perfect, and there will always be misunderstandings (in group projects, for example). It is always very important to remain human in all life situations. 

Where else, if not at Tallinn University, can you feel like a pro, working with professional equipment? Have you ever seen a university with its own 4K cinema, film, and TV studio? No? Well, I never dreamed of this before coming to Estonia, too.

I like to learn from professionals. I really value the knowledge that I got from each professor. I can point out that the best, the most interesting and exciting for me were the lectures by Michael Andrew Keerdo-Dawson, Alessandro Nani and Sten-Kristian Saluveer. Each teacher has his own special approach to teaching. It always gets cool when the teacher gives you not only theoretical knowledge, but also practical examples from life. 

I am incredibly happy and grateful to my university for making an internship mandatory in my study programme. Summer in Prague... Four years ago, it was hard for me to imagine that from my homey Kyiv, I would move to study in Estonia and then go to the Czech Republic for an internship. But we are the creators of our own paths, and I am sure that all of this is only the beginning of my life. 

The partnership with Erasmus was one of the key criteria by which I chose the university. I really believe that this is the best opportunity to gain international experience that you can ever get. In three months, I’ve managed to fall in love with the workplace and, of course, with the team.

How do you think Estonians have reacted to the war in Ukraine?

I have felt very safe in Estonia since the beginning of my life here. Nowadays, it is important for me to feel supported more than ever. Having researched many countries in terms of living conditions for Ukrainian refugees, I can say that Estonia is a country that gives new life to each of us.

I am grateful to every caring Estonian for the warm welcome of every Ukrainian, and for their willingness to help and support. I am especially proud of Tallinn University, which immediately reacted and supported its Ukrainian students. I’m proud of the organisation “Students with Ukraine”, which was created during the first days of the war and has already helped a lot of people.

For people who wish to help Ukrainians during that horrible war – what would you suggest they do?

I advise everyone who wants to help somehow to contact or come to the organisation Students with Ukraine. We welcome every new team member who is passionate about what they do and sincerely want to help. At the moment, the main tasks of our team are organising charity events in Tallinn in support of Ukraine. You can find out more about current needs by contacting Tallinn University or Students with Ukraine, or contact us via ukraina@tlu.ee.

Support our students

The students of Tallinn University opened a charity fund to support TLU’s Ukrainian students. The purpose of the fund is to provide support to Ukrainian students to cover living expenses, and all of our Ukrainian students can apply for the funding via contacting ukraina@tlu.ee.

To support Ukrainian students, TLU students collect donations to the following account numbers:

  • SEB, Tallinna Ülikooli Üliõpilaskond, EE431010011911416225;
  • Swedbank, Tallinna Ülikooli Üliõpilaskond, EE282200221026097397.

When donating, please include in the explanation "donation in support of Ukraine (your name)".

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