MEU Athens — Vivian Zauhar
Vivian Zauhar studies Professional Communications and Media at the University of Pittsburgh. Vivian participated in MEU Athens as a journalist.
The MEU Athens experience was enriching culturally, socially, and educationally. While being in another country always offers cultural insight and learning, to be able to be around so many other young adults from a vast amount of countries not only in Europe was exceptionally fulfilling and fun. While educating oneself about European politics is important to participate in Model EU’s, having interactions with a diverse amount of people who are significantly different from us only helps us as Model EU participants. It’s common for Americans to carry ethnocentric viewpoints, so for those of us who want to work in international/European settings in the future, it’s important for us to expose ourselves to people with different upbringings, morals, beliefs, and values.
From a journalist’s perspective, I learned that oftentimes the journalists are the least liked people in the room. Nobody wants to be asked tough questions where the answer might give people a negative view of them, but I also learned that it’s important. At this MEU, the journalists and lobbyists were the smallest groups. Something that I learned while being was a journalist is that we have to be as equally researched and knowledgeable in the same topics as Parliament and the Council. Just like them, in order to do our job, it required background research, diligence, and focused attention. Overall, I had a really great time getting to explore Athens by day while practicing professionalism and journalism after our conferences ended. I’ve made lasting friendships with people from different countries and it has also sparked my interest in journalism which is something I would like to pursue in the future as a career or even just course-wise. MEU Athens also worked incredibly hard to make sure that everyone participating felt included and that they were part of a community that was supportive and welcoming.
This publication was produced with the financial support of the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of UNC, Pitt, and FIU, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.
