January 24, 2014, by Malvika Johal
A new alumni network in Romania
The inaugural meeting of Nottingham’s new Romanian alumni network was held at a restaurant in Bucharest on 18th December 2013.
A group of enthusiastic Nottingham alumni, now living and working in Romania or still based in the UK but returning home for Christmas, enjoyed an informal dinner and shared their experiences and good memories of the University.
The event was organised by Romanian alumni coordinator Laura Popa. Laura graduated with an MSc in Corporate Strategy and Governance from Nottingham University Business School in 2011 and is no stranger to ambassadorial work. She was President of the Romanian Society at The University of Nottingham and for the past five years has worked tirelessly as a representative for the higher education exchange programme ERASMUS, becoming the ERASMUS Ambassador of Romania at the European Commission in 2012.
Laura said: “It’s great to be able to start up an alumni network in my home country. Romania has rapidly developed over the past decade and education is a major priority so it is potentially an important recruitment market for Nottingham. Soon after everyone in the group started to talk to each other it was obvious how much we had all enjoyed our time at Nottingham and how it helped us develop our skills and career. We are all committed to raising Nottingham’s profile in Romania through the new network.”
Current president of the Romanian Society at Nottingham – Alexandra Pinzariu – also attended the meeting and spoke about the link she has with the Romanian Embassy in the UK and about the society’s events, activities and future plans. This prompted a discussion on recent negative UK press about the opening up of British labour markets to Romanian nationals.
“Sadly, there is a lot of ignorance about Romanian people”, said Laura. “There are lots of misconceptions that Romania is economically and socially depressed, but this is just not true and one of the objectives of the network is to make people aware of what Romania is really like.”
National station Radio România Cultural also attended the event and interviewed alumni on their experiences of studying in the UK. The programme is due to be aired across the country in a few weeks’ time.
For more information about the new Romanian alumni network, please contact Laura Popa at eu@laurapopa.ro
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