Admittedly students are the most active people. Their energy, creativity, enthusiasm and youthful high spirits contribute to their self-development and participation in various development projects.
Today we are speaking to Kateryna Baran, a straight-A 3d year student and a future historian. Nowadays she takes the position of a student dean of Faculty of History, Political Science and National Security and is a member of the ‘Ayna Bera Lutsk’ medieval chivalry battle club.
Kateryna Baran wants to become a history teacher. She manages to combine her study with extracurricular activities.
Kateryna entered the EENU following her parents’ advice. They didn’t want her to move far from home, although she confesses to having been willing to study in Lviv at first.
She studied at Zaliznytsia lyceum in Liubeshiv region. It was here where she developed her passion for history. The reason for that was a good role model that she had. However, she was also good at other subjects.
Kateryna says, “My class teacher was a history teacher, and she was dedicated to both history and the teaching process. Thanks to her I didn’t miss any history contests since my 8th grade. I devoted more time to history than to other disciplines because I felt teacher’s feedback. When I graduated from school I decided to go on and study history at university.”
However, it wasn’t an easy decision. “I was interested in management as well and had to choose between two favourite subjects,” Kateryna continued. Based on her ZNO results, Kateryna entered History department and doesn’t regret. When asked if she wanted to change anything about her studies, she confidently answers ‘No’.
Kateryna advises school leavers to think carefully while choosing a future profession. “You have to be really keen on the subjects you are going to study in order not to waste four years of your life.”
When choosing a university Kateryna recommends applicants to take their time and talk to the university students and graduates because they are the ones who know the most about their university.
Her next advice is to apply to local university. She says, “If there’s a university with your chosen specialization in your city or within your oblast, I advise you to apply there. It is convenient as you can easily get home and won’t be homesick. You don’t have to commute long distances to your university. Moreover, I think it’s easier to prove yourself in such universities.”
As it has been mentioned, Kateryna Baran takes an active part in social life. She participates in organizing university events and takes pride in being a student dean of her faculty.
“I like my position and don’t find it difficult. Of course, I sometimes lack time for other activities, but that teaches me how to improve time management. I believe you can do anything you want,” she claims.
We asked Kateryna a question about the importance of her faculty and history. She answers that she has been asking herself the same question. “So far,” she says, “I can say that this faculty taught me to think, and that’s what one really needs for life. And history is very important, of course. Everyone must know it at least at some basic level.”
She says that despite the fact that the teacher’s profession is not so prestigious nowadays, she doesn’t mind working in this field and hopes that the education sector will get more support from the government.
Right now Kateryna is combining her studies with attempts to teach others; she has launched her Facebook rubric #almost_historian to tell her friends about the origin of things. “Do you know when Instagram was created? Or can a bulletproof vest really protect the wearer?” You can read Kateryna’s rubric if you’d like to learn about those things.
She says that she came up with the idea of launching her Facebook rubric during winter holidays when she had nothing else to do.
“I love history and I’d like it to be more popular. Social media is a good platform. Whenever I come across interesting facts when studying or I know my audience might like to learn something new, I write a post for my rubric. I am busy with my course paper at the moment; and when I find some important material, I post it to let everybody know,” she says.
Studying at University is only one side of her life, though. This young historian has a rare hobby; she is a member of the ‘Ayna Bera Lutsk’ medieval chivalry battle club. She’s excited about her hobby. It all started seven months ago when she was helping organize the Volyn Princess Festival in Lubart Castle. There she first met members of the club. Soon she met Serhii Vashchuk, the club’s president, again at the 2019 Student Republic event, where he offered Kateryna to join their Medieval Lutsk Festival. In September she decided to take up a club’s training session.
She thought, “How can I cooperate with the club without trying to do what they do? I must give it a go.”
Two weeks later, Kateryna being the novice was offered to take part in Heroes’ Call tournament. Perhaps, few would have the courage to join a tournament after only two weeks’ training, but Kateryna accepted the challenge.
“Sometimes I am too spontaneous, that’s why it took me only two weeks to be ready to fight, dress up in armor and even win some of those battles. That was the moment I understood I really wanted to do this,” she explains.
She tells us about the history of sport of chivalry in Ukraine, particularly in Volyn area. Kateryna said that Lutsk chivalry centre appeared in 2009 and today more than 20 people are already engaged. In 2016 chivalry became a non-Olympic sport.
“There’s much to say about the club. I’ve done some research, and I’ve already made some posts for the club’s webpage.”
Training is difficult but Kateryna doesn’t complain. “We actually train in soft armor instead of iron. We have 2-hour trainings 3 times a week, on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The armor is quite heavy, 20-30 kilos, but it’s not as bad as it may seem. It was hard to wear it at first, but only because I wasn’t fit enough.”
Kateryna recalls how challenging the training sessions were. They replaced her the gym, and at the same time appealed to her as a future historian. So, the girl’s interest was only growing.
“The Chivalry club means also a good team and extraordinary people. The adrenaline you get while competing is an unforgettable unique emotion. That’s why I am here,” concluded Kateryna.
While studying Kateryna helps organize many various events at our university and beyond. It is mostly voluntary work, but it is not difficult to complete your tasks when you work with a helpful team.
“I also get motivated thinking of the results of my activity. A goal and a clearly-structured plan how to achieve it motivate me to act. The feedback – both positive and negative – also helps,” she says, adding that she enjoys working with people and engages them in projects, thus developing her own management skills.
These skills are important when looking for volunteers. Kateryna is glad to say that a lot of people she knows end up becoming volunteers. She mentions, “the main thing about recruiting volunteers is to explain all the benefits to them, as well as to make them as enthusiastic as you are.”
During the quarantine Kateryna is busy with her studies and self-development as well as she is preparing to organize new events.
The quarantine is not an easy period for a person who is always busy, but she is learning to make the most of the situation. First of all, she has more time to study.
As the student dean Kateryna often has to deal with issues of her fellow students. Although during quarantine students stay at home and get used to distance learning, there is social work that is to be carried out online. “Together with the Students’ Council, we are trying to interact with the students via social networks, so that they know all faculty’s news,” says Kateryna Baran.
Meanwhile, the EENU students are looking forward to coming back out of quarantine and returning to their university routine.
Interview by Andrii PETRUSHKO
When using materials hyperlink to the resource is required