My name is Ivan, I am 20 years old, and I am a student at the WU (Vienna University of Economics and Business) since April 2023. My studies here are a successful result of my long-term plan, which I made up as a dream in 5th grade at Ukrainian school. From the moment I moved to a German-speaking school after fourth grade, I knew that my future was abroad. After school graduation in 2022, I chose Austria as the country for my further education. I passed the WU entrance exam and all the required supplementary exams, and here I am, finally studying at the university of my dreams.
BeAble programme for students with special needs
As I am a student with special needs, the university administration has made it possible for me to get a membership in the BeAble programme. BeAble is an organisation at WU that provides inclusion for all those in need like me and is available to all students with special needs to make the learning process fair for all. Thanks to BeAble, I now have access to a special room in the library where there are useful devices for students like me, such as a text-to-speech machine that reads the text from the book for you if you can't read it yourself. Thank goodness I don't need this device. Instead, I use the screens in the PC rooms, where I can simply connect my laptop to and enlarge all the texts easily. I also use the option of enlarging the exam paper because the letter font is too small for me to read during the exam. Therefore, I ask the BeAble administration to print all the sheets for me in a larger format.
However, my biggest challenge remains that I need more time than other students to read the books because of my visual impairment. I spend longer in the library and by the end of the day I have severe eye pain.
Creating opportunities for education and justice for all
There is no word to describe how grateful I am to receive so much support from the BeAble programme. However, there is always space for improvement! According to my observations, there are incredibly few students at WU who completely lost vision. In my opinion, it is linked to the underdeveloped infrastructure for such students within the campus. A lot has been done for equality, but you rarely see students without vision. And of course, this does not mean that there is a low number of such students in principle, but that the whole support system should be improved. Hopefully, in the near future we will see everything working properly and more and more people with full visual impairment will be able to study with us.
Moving forward despite the challenges
When I first started my studies at WU, I had very little time to prepare for all the exams because I only came to university two months before my first exam week. It wouldn't be a lie to say that it was the hardest time of my studies because everything was completely new to me, and I didn't know anyone I could ask for help. Within two months, I not only understood how the study system works, but also prepared for two exams and passed everything successfully. For me, that remains the hardest and also the proudest moment I experienced during my studies.
Support is important
In any case, without the support of the scholarship programme "Ernst Mach – Ukraine" and the help of the BeAble SupportCentre, my studies would hardly be imaginable. Thanks to these programmes I have a high motivation and hope that everything is possible in this world and even the people with disabilities like me have the chances for education and equal rights like the other students. I am incredibly grateful for these opportunities!
Next step: Master's programme and starting a company
In the future, I plan to graduate with a degree in International Business Administration and then set up my own company, as it is my childhood dream, and it would be really nice to realise this at the end of my studies. At the same time as setting up my own company, I will be studying for a master’s degree, which will most likely be in the field of construction equipment.
Finally, I would like to wish all readers to never give up on their wishes and to always be determined and sure that everything is possible, and all dreams can be realized if you make a plan to reach your goal and do not let disability be an obstacle on the way to your dreams.