How did you choose to study at the Institute? What do you appreciate the most in your daily life at IIRPS VU?

In high school, I had a dilemma in choosing between journalism and political science studies, a situation I am sure many current and former students of the institute have faced. However, it was the activities in non-governmental youth organisations, which have always included many IIRPS VU students, that brought me to the institute. I was intrigued by the interdisciplinarity and diversity of the studies at the institute, which is also something I value in my activities outside the university. During my studies, I got everything I expected. What I appreciate most about the Institute is all the opportunities it offers, from education to student activities. I think this is the reason why our community is so diverse. I am currently a second-year student and I am very happy with my choice to study at IIRPS VU! 

You are the Organisational Coordinator of VU SR IIRPS and you are currently organising the biggest student event PoDi at IIRPS VU, can you tell us what we can expect? What is the theme of this year’s PoDi? How is the organisational process going?

True! When I agreed to become the Organisational Coordinator of VU SR IIRPS, organising the Political Science Days (PoDi) became my most anticipated challenge. After the joint PoDi and IIRPS VU thirtieth anniversary series, the bar was set quite high, but our team sees it as an aspiration rather than a scary thought. I am very, very happy about that! It is also great that this year’s PoDi organising team includes a number of first-year students, some of them foreigners. As we have new members from other countries joining our community this year, the quality of their integration into both the organising process and the participation in the events is very important for us. This is also reflected in this year’s PoDi theme – PoDiversity. We want to draw attention to both the IIRPS VU community and the public about the diverse environment and encourage them to seek to understand and support each other. 

As far as the organisational process is concerned, everything is going great! The team is extremely motivated and working hard to create a memorable series of events for the VU TSPMI community with a thunderous closing evening. Every day during PoDi Week, we will invite you to participate in a variety of events: from a brainstorming session or a debate to learning a different foreign language to a speech on the barrels or a talent show! We will also invite you to find out what studying looked like ten years ago from P. Ambrazevičius and M. Jastramskis, who we wanted to invite to PoDi last year, and who we will be able to invite this year! The closing evening will also satisfy everyone’s musical tastes – jazz lovers will enjoy the band “Savi” immensely, neo-slager fans will be delighted by the performance of Lukas Pilkauskas, and we will invite electronic music lovers to dance with Palmės Žiedas! Of course, this is only part of what PoDi is all about. The full programme is already available on our social media!

You are a board member of VJOSAS, how did you get involved, and what have you already achieved in this organisation?

I was encouraged to apply for the Vilnius Youth Organisations’ Union “Apskritas stalas” (VJOSAS) when I was a freshman because of my previous experience in youth NGOs. As I was no stranger to municipal activities and the people we were running with were professionals in their field, I agreed and was elected to become a board member for two years. Half of my term of office has already passed, and my team and I have accomplished a great deal in these years. We are taking a responsible approach to the organisation’s activities: unite, strengthen, and represent. We started by strengthening VJOSAS, both in terms of finance and human resources. More and more often, we receive requests from organisations wanting to join, which is the best and most heartwarming indicator of our work. The unification is done through active work with our member organisations, consultation on all kinds of issues and community building. We try to create the conditions to meet at least once a month in both formal and informal meetings. We also organise a variety of training sessions on relevant topics to which we invite not only our members but all young people. Representation takes place through meetings with municipal representatives, and drafting resolutions and positions. We are pleased that our members are taking the initiative and that we are doing our best to ensure the quality of the documentation. Basically, we are working for a better life for young people in Vilnius!

You became a member of the OECD Youthwise Council earlier this month, could you tell us more about this activity? What is the importance of this organisation for you and other young people in Lithuania?

This is a huge honour for me, because during my visit to the inaugural council meeting at the OECD headquarters in Paris, I also learned that our team of 22 people from all OECD countries was selected out of a pool of 840 candidates, and I am the first from Lithuania! As I had to go through several selection rounds and interviews to achieve this, this information was not too surprising. Why did I decide to try my hand here? Surprisingly enough, I have found international affairs and activities extremely interesting and appealing since I was young, I was previously involved in European Democrat Students, so that prepared me well for this position, and now becoming part of an organisation of the scale of the OECD is still incredible. As I only started a couple of weeks ago, and the programme itself is quite new, it’s hard to say exactly what our work will look like. However, I see the opportunity to be a member of the OECD Youthwise Council for a year as a chance to promote Lithuania’s name and to contribute to change in the field of youth NGO empowerment and higher education. These topics are close to my heart because of my work with both youth NGOs and VU SA, so I hope to be able to make a quality contribution. I very much hope to represent OECD Youthwise well in Lithuania and to encourage young people not to be afraid to wade into international waters, even if it may seem out of reach. We will soon approve our action plan and the way

We will soon be approving our action plan and ways to share information in our countries, so I will be able to share more!

You are active in a number of youth NGOs, study, and work, how do you manage to balance everything? Do you have time for leisure?

A lot of enthusiasm, planning, and multitasking. I often joke that my life is basically dictated by Google Calendar. While I was at school it was a bit easier, as I only had to coordinate my classes and one other initiative I was doing at the time. Nowadays, studies, work and youth NGOs are all thrown in, and there is less and less time to push around. There are indeed many activities, but I see value and meaning in each one, otherwise, I wouldn’t do it. I also get a lot of help from the people around me, especially my supervisors, who are extremely understanding and supportive. I think that’s a very important part of any activity – support because the work is not so hard when it’s with a good team. Also, the charm of youth NGOs lies in the people, and I have met my close friends from work thanks to them.

Probably, if I had to make a spontaneous presentation on any topic I would tell everyone about the benefits and the meaning of being part of an NGO, especially for young people. I see it as an immensely valuable experience in terms of the competencies developed, the opportunities and the people met! Each activity I have contributed to has been a succession of activities leading to even greater things, which is why I don’t limit time or energy to it. I think that the desire to act is also part of my personality and character, and I much prefer to spend my time being productive, creating and helping others than vice versa. No day is ever the same and I love it, at least at this stage of my life. 

Of course, with time priorities change a bit, I try to choose new projects as responsibly and purposefully as possible, to devote more time to my studies, as the second year at IIRPS VU is not the easiest, and to myself. I also think it is very important to have clear priorities and boundaries, which is what I am trying to work on at the moment. We are each the forger of our own destiny, and I believe that with hard work and enthusiasm everything is achievable!

What would you like to wish the IIRPS VU community?

The courage to take initiative and achieve your dreams!