I am Alina Pascarel and I come from Republic of Moldova. Prior to pursuing my Master's degree at UvA, I was an undergraduate student, with a double major in International Relations and Latin American Studies, and a minor in European Studies, having graduated in May 2010 from the University of San Francisco (USF) in the United States of America. At the end of my Bachelor’s experience at USF I knew I wanted to take a year off from the school-oriented lifestyle and try out the “real world”. Thus, in 2010 I started an internship with the Moldovan Embassy in Washington D.C and later, an internship with the International Foundation for Electoral Systems.

It was not until the end of that year that I was willing to take into consideration applying for a Master's programme. The decision to get a Master's diploma came at a time when I knew that, in order to be able to compete on the job market, it was extremely necessary to have a Master's degree. Given that I already had some background in International Relations and particularly, in European Studies, I was eager to deepen my expertise and thus, I was looking for the available European Union related Master's programmes. The programme European Union in a Global Order (EUGO) at the University of Amsterdam turned out to be the best decision for me, given that the EUGO programme was exactly what I was looking for:

1.    A small group of students that allows for a more personal interaction with, both, my classmates and professors;

2.    A very student-oriented interaction between students and professor;

3.    A group of professors who are willing to advice and mentor their students throughout the entire process of getting a Master's degree;

4.    A diverse group of students who have been selected by the UvA and who come from different personal and professional backgrounds.

'My research class had not more than 10 students, which made it the perfect learning environment given that there was a lot of room for questions, feedback, and discussions'

The EUGO Master’s programme is a one-year programme, which involves a first semester of European Union External relations-focused classes, while the second semester is exclusively centered on the research class that is intended to help students throughout the thesis-writing process. My research class - known as the EU as a Normative Power - had not more than 10 students, which made it the perfect learning environment given that there was a lot of room for questions, feedback, and discussions. The professor who held the class was continuously guiding each one of the students through the thesis-research and thesis-writing process and was available to offer advice at any time.

The structure of the class was what facilitated the effectiveness and progress of our work: besides the comments we got from our mentor, we were also supposed to read each other’s theses and provide peer-feedback. The highlight of the Master's programme was that we were given the opportunity to apply - and if accepted- to attend the European School on Security and Development in Follonica, Italy which was funded by the European Commission and brought together students from three Italian and one Belgian university and the University of Amsterdam. Having been selected to attend the Summer School, I was able to enhance my knowledge on current EU issues. I am currently working on my Master’s thesis, which deals with the European Union’s democracy promotion efforts through electoral assistance in transitioning democracies.

'Having found myself at the crossroads between the end of my studies and starting my career path, I can only hope to find a job and apply the theory I learned thus far in practice'

To be perfectly honest, having found myself at the crossroads between the end of my studies and starting my career path, I can only hope to find a job and apply the theory I learned thus far in practice. Even though I am not sure where I will end up in the near future - what kind of field I want to be working in - I have a slight inclination towards working with regional or international organisations that deal with electoral assistance. At the same time, I see my interests steering me towards Brussels, Washington D.C, Geneva or Strasbourg working in policymaking, lobbying and/or researching, just to name a few areas.

'My piece of advice...'

Looking back I believe I can only offer a piece of advice: work on your networking skills – go have coffees with your professors and hand out your CV to anyone who could know someone ‘else’ – it might really facilitate you in your Post-Master job-hunting period!