Karen Zipkas

After working for 10 years, I finally decided to return to study and pursue my interest in politics and history by embarking upon a degree in International Relations at La Trobe University. It has been one of the best, most personally rewarding decisions I have ever made and I would urge any potential mature age student to take the plunge and study! I have always been fascinated by European history and this interest was consolidated after thoroughly enjoying the EU subject run by the History and Politics Programmes at La Trobe, for my work in which I was awarded the European Union prize. The historical significance of the EU’s development and its political and economic success made very clear to me the potential for regionalism to affect international power relations in truly significant ways.

I have particularly appreciated the enthusiasm and support of the History Programme and the newly formed IUEU Centre. The teaching staff involved have been a great motivating factor in encouraging my ongoing interest in the EU. I hope to follow this interest more closely in the near future with postgraduate research. With the encouragement of the IUEU Centre, I had the good fortune to be a scholarship participant in an EU summer school workshop series held in 2006 at the National Europe Centre at the Australian National University. This was a fantastic opportunity to meet like-minded students and various EU delegates and academics.

Most excitingly, I am very grateful to have received a La Trobe student exchange scholarship to the University of Malmö in Sweden to undertake a course in Peace and Conflict Studies! I leave for Europe in August to begin that exchange. I look forward to learning more about Europe and the EU on a more intimate level in an international context. I hope to be able to put my European experiences to good use when I return.

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