“Building a community is difficult, but there is a passionate core group of students to keep doing the events,” says Saras about her experience as president of the Student Union, and cites the recent International Cultural Festival as the Union’s “blockbuster event.” Saras, who is American, arrived at CEU after spending time in Lithuania on a Fulbright grant. Building on her involvement there in human rights activism, she joined CEU’s Human RightS Initiative (HRSI) upon arriving. With HRSI, she participated in workshops, worked on Gender Violence Awareness Week and will perform in HRSI’s annual production of “The Vagina Monologues.” “The HRSI team are great people. It’s not about doing the activism, it’s about how to apply what we’re learning. HRSI is an important teaching tool, mixing classroom learning with real life experience.” Saras, who has a particular interest in LGBTQ and women’s issues, hopes to work for a non-governmental organization (NGO) after she completes the one-year M.A. program.
