Spotlights

Diana Gurbanmyradova

International and Comparative Politics, 2014

Today we would like to introduce you with one of our prominent recent alumna of 2014, Diana Gurbanmyradova. Diana is the alumna of International and Comparative Politics. She is from Turkmenistan, and currently she is studying at Central European University in Budapest, Hungary.

Central European University is a graduate-level “crossroads” university where faculty and students from more than 100 countries come to engage in interdisciplinary education, pursue advanced scholarship, and address some of society’s most vexing problems.

It is accredited in both the United States and Hungary, and offers English-language Master's and doctoral programs in the social sciences, the humanities, law, management and public policy. With approximately 1,400 students and 370 faculty members from more than 130 countries, CEU is one of the most densely international universities in the world.

“Currently, I am studying International Relations at the Central European University. The program is a yearlong, which means the curriculum is very intense. There are many similarities between CEU and AUCA in terms of studying environment as students and faculty is very diverse. This makes class discussions more interesting because people approach the same issue from different perspectives, which contributes to the positive process of studying where we, as students, learn from each other.

The favorite thing about my education here in CEU is having an ability to learn from students that come from different parts of the world and have diverse backgrounds. Moreover, since CEU is in Europe, I don’t just simply learn more about European Politics, but also get to experience it in everyday life.

I believe that AUCA provides a good base for a student to succeed abroad. AUCA teaches you to approach the issues critically, and this is very important once you start doing grad school. Moreover, being an ICP student and a PIE Alumna I was already used to writing a lot. Thus, I would like to thank ICP faculty in particular for the provision of the base that allows me to succeed in a demanding and competitive environment.

Today, there are many things I miss about AUCA, yet most of all I miss having an ability to combine studies with the social life. And of course, having half portion of rice and meat at Kitchinet. The most interesting thing I remember about AUCA is how the university successfully manages to integrate new students into the community. This is done through various kinds of activities: Spirit Weeks, Initiation, and Diversity Weeks in which every student gets to experience the phenomenon called “an AUCA spirit”. I think this is very particular to AUCA.

I would like to wish the whole AUCA community a successful year ahead. What about students? Time management is very important. Always remember that! This is probably very repetitive yet, still very important. I fail managing my time sometimes, which leads to certain consequences. Using opportunities that are right there is also very important, otherwise they can be taken by someone else.

I would like to thank AUCA administration and Professors for their continuous support during my studies at AUCA. Seniors, good luck with your thesis! You will survive, even if you still don’t know what you are doing at the moment. And lastly I would like to pass my greetings to Dyad Misha, a security guard that welcomes every student with a smile.

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