We have to rebuild Ukraine and I want to be part of that Olga Kustenko talks about how a Pathways to Business scholarship has enabled her to return to Trinity from war-torn Ukraine to complete her MBA programme F or Ukrainian student, Olga Kustenko, it has been a long road to the Trinity MBA - through pregnancy, pandemic and war. She was initially accepted to the Trinity MBA programme on a merit scholarship in 2020. ‘For the last semester, I took an off-books period because I found out that I was pregnant and I wanted to return to Ukraine.’ She went back to her home city of Kyiv and had her child. ‘Then the pandemic hit and the MBA programme moved mostly online. I found that challenging. My goal was to come back to Ireland to complete the programme.’ As in-person learning began to resume in 2022, Olga made arrangements to return to Dublin for her studies, even booking a place in the Trinity on-campus nursery for her child. ‘Then, the war started.’ In the initial days of the invasion, Olga wrote to the college to say that she wasn’t sure she’d be able to come back as planned. She was now dealing with an entirely new set of circumstances - war had even made it difficult for her to access her bank account. Her classmates began sending her messages and checking in with her, asking how she was. ‘Then I got a call directly from Professor Andrew Burke, the Dean of Trinity Business School, to tell me that the School had decided to award me a humanitarian scholarship to cover my tuition fees, as well as an accommodation offer. To be honest, that conversation was one of the crucial things that maintained my sanity during that time. The Dean asked me how I was doing and what the situation was like for my family. I explained that I was underground in a subway station with my family and my 10-month old child.’ Olga moved initially to west Ukraine with her family, and at the beginning of May she returned to Dublin to take up the offer of the scholarship and complete her MBA. Prior to the war, Olga had her path set out: she had planned to return to Ukraine with her MBA and move into industry, ideally working in business consultancy with a sustainability focus. The situation in Ukraine has, understandably, caused her to reassess all aspects of her life. ‘It’s really hard to predict what the future will hold, but I think what I do will be connected with Ukraine because we will have to rebuild our country and I want to be a part of that process. I see myself in the future serving as a bridge or connection between Irish and Ukrainian businesses in terms of investments or future projects that could be beneficial to both countries.’ Pathways to Business is a collaboration between the Trinity Business School and Trinity Access, focused on providing financial, academic and career supports to encourage students from underrepresented backgrounds to pursue business careers. Click here to learn more about Pathways to Business
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