"The 3 October Festival, the (back-then) Queen days, the long nights at Einstein Pub or snowy Leiden were unique experiences for me."

Brussels, Belgium
2010-2012: MA in European Union Studies

Why I chose Leiden University?

After doing my Erasmus Exchange in Italy in my second year of college, I was already thinking about what to do next. I was considering several countries: UK, Spain, France or the US. I also knew I wanted to continue in the Political Sciences field.

To facilitate my decision, I went to the Romanian International University Fair (RIUF) where I met representatives from several universities. The Leiden University representatives convinced me that Leiden was the best choice with world-class educational infrastructure and facilities, great teachers methodology, academic rigour, personalized career counseling and that it ranks among the top 100 best universities in the world. All great reasons to choose Leiden.

Some of the things that surprised me were the affordable tuition costs (comparable with Romania), and the fact that libraries were open from 07:00 AM until 11:00 PM during exam periods! I also appreciated the University frequently organising highly practical workshops related to professional skills, personal development or career counseling, all which will prove to be very valuable in the first attempts to secure your dream job.

My Leiden experiences

The 3 October Festival, the (back-then) Queen days, the long nights at Einstein Pub or snowy Leiden were unique experiences for me. I travelled many times to Amsterdam, Rotterdam or The Hague which was incredibly fun and interesting.

I still have a few things left on my bucket list: seeing Leiden Observatory or the Keukenhof Gardens and learning to ride a bike with one hand like most ‘Leideners’ do.

Within the specific theme of my master (EU Studies), the University held weekly seminars with prominent Dutch public figures, so I also had the pleasure of meeting amongst others, the former Dutch Prime Minister, Mr. Balkenende, and the former Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Frans Timmermans, now Vice President of the European Commission.

What I’m doing now

I now work at the European Young Innovators Forum (EYIF), an NGO in Brussels that organises innovation competitions, startup events and provides top notch consulting to startups to get EU Funds through a tool called the SME Instrument. At EYIF, I'm doing three major things. First, marketing and communication: ensuring we are active, heard online as well as offline and strategic in our communications. Second, I proactively look for tech startups with disruptive innovative ideas and direct them to our EU Funding consulting branch. Lastly, I prepare projects to participate in EU tenders and calls for proposals. The diversity of these tasks makes my job quite interesting. 

My reasons for becoming a Leiden University Ambassador

Connect with fellow alumni and also convince young people to study at Leiden University. I wish to be part of building an International Leiden Alumni network here in Brussels, and hopefully, with the support of the University, we can achieve this!