Adrija Liaugminaitė, a fourth-year student of New Media Language at the Kaunas University of Technology, Faculty of Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities (KTU FSSAH), decided to participate in the Erasmus+ exchange programme and spent a semester away at the University of Nicosia (UNIC) in Cyprus. According to Adrija, this decision not only helped her flourish creatively but also provided new cultural experiences and inspired her to reconsider her future career.
Adrija had already been aware of the Erasmus+ exchange studies since school. However, many negative experiences of other students had prevented her from participating. Although she had planned to spend a semester in Istanbul during her second year, she ended up withdrawing her application. Nevertheless, the positive experiences of her close friends encouraged Adrija and the student decided to go for it. As the student says, the strong reputation of a top-ranked private Cypriot university made her confident about the quality of the education she would receive, while the island itself appealed to her with the opportunity to experience a different culture and lifestyle.
Adrija said she knew little about Cyprus, but her decision to spend a semester there was ultimately influenced by the best recommendations about the quality of the University of Nicosia, particularly its wide range of subjects.
“The list of subjects at the University of Nicosia was extensive, so it was easy to set up the study plan. I just had to make sure that the classes didn’t overlap,” says Adrija.
The KTU FSSAH student said that the selection process was clear and smooth – after applying, she had to take an English language proficiency test at KTU and the longest part was waiting for the selection results to be announced. Once everything was confirmed, Adrija was able to start preparing for her departure and take care of all the necessary documents.
The student was particularly impressed by the University’s teaching approach. The theoretical material served only as a foundation for practical tasks – the lectures lasted a few hours, students sketched by hand, participated in creative activities and developed advertising visuals from the first concept to the final project.
“We had to use Adobe while developing advertising campaigns. We spent a lot of time sketching by hand, generating ideas on how to reach the target audience, discussing which fonts are best to use and how to visualize everything. Most importantly, we created the final advertising cycle product for the same campaign – leaflets, Instagram posts, advertisements for city screens and stands,” says Adrija.
At the end of the semester, the student had an opportunity to visit the advertising company TBWA/Entelia. During the visit, Adrija was able to see how the process of working with real clients, such as McDonalds or Volvo, goes. Another memorable moment was a visit to a hotel owned by one of the university teachers, who invited the students, introduced them to the business’s history and even surprised them with small souvenirs.
From the very first days in Cyprus, Adrija was pleasantly surprised by the local lifestyle, as Cypriots communicate loudly, gesture a lot and are often late for meetings and lectures without showing much remorse. Public transport in Cyprus runs according to its own timetable and can often arrive late or not arrive.
“Cyprus taught me to plan everything differently than I used to in Lithuania,” says the student of the FSSAH.
Adrija describes the University of Nicosia as a great space for international students, as Cypriot students were only a minority – the majority came from all around the world. The active student life in Cyprus centred around country clubs, cultural events and sports activities, while the Erasmus Student Network made it easy to integrate into the university’s community and meet other exchange students.
“The university has clubs for people from different countries, where people from the same country can gather. For example, the Ukrainian, Belarusian and Pakistani clubs were the largest. They held various weekly events related to their culture, traditional cuisine, dances and important discussions on the current topics,” said Adrija.
In her free time, the KTU student travelled extensively around the island and, together with the other Erasmus+ students, visited both popular and less touristy places – all major cities in Cyprus, such as Paphos and Ayia Napa, Aphrodite’s Rock, Turtle Bay, White River Beach and even snow-capped mountains. However, according to Adrija, one of the most memorable places was the red Mitsero Lake, whose bright colour was formed by the oxidation of heavy metals.
While living in Nicosia, the student was able to experience the close-up daily life of Europe’s only divided capital city. The border crossing in the city centre allows people to enter Northern Cyprus, also known as Lefkosia, where the language, environment and the overall appearance of the city change immediately – Greek is quickly replaced by Turkish and it becomes difficult to communicate with locals in English. Travelling in the occupied part of the island became a real adventure, as public transport did not work as usual.
“It seemed as if the buses would pop up out of nowhere – someone would start shouting the city names as the bus destination places and off we went. We would pay for the tickets right before getting off the bus,” said the student.
For Adrija, the exchange studies in Cyprus became not only a significant academic experience, but also contributed greatly to her personal growth. After studying the module Graphic design for social & commercial, she decided to delve deeper into media and visual communication – subjects closely related to marketing. This opportunity inspired her to consider pursuing a master’s degree abroad.
The studies in Cyprus taught Adrija to react quickly to unexpected situations, solve problems on the spot and plan everything in advance. During this program, the student began to reflect more deeply on herself, although she admitted that it is still not easy to apply this change in thinking to everyday life.
She concludes her own experience with a simple yet important piece of advice: “Don’t be afraid to leave your family, home and your country. Don’t be afraid to step out of your comfort zone and don’t be afraid to use the once-in-a-lifetime chances”.
