Mark Neshta

"I was born in Ukraine and moved to the UK in September 2021. I was pursuing further study and had just graduated from school. My mother travelled with me and helped me settle in but returned to Ukraine after 2 weeks. I study Law with Politics. I find both parts of my degree to be very interesting subjects which are extremely important to all aspects of our society. These disciplines are intertwined and very much influenced by one another, which, in my opinion, makes it beneficial to study both. Both provide ways to achieve justice and better the world, something I believe to be very important. Law is also a good career choice, although highly competitive, it provides good prospects for growth and the jobs are generally well-paid.  

 “As part of my degree I’m currently on a placement year at Barker Gotelee, a law firm in Suffolk. My role is an administrative assistant in the Business Department, and my duties include both administrative and basic legal work in support of the Department’s solicitors. These can include a wide variety of tasks, from scanning and printing documents, to compiling bundles for a court hearing, to researching a specific point of law or drafting letter to clients.  

 “During my time at Essex I co-founded the Ukrainian Society and became the first president of the society. Since the beginning of the full-scale war in Ukraine, many young people have had to leave the country, and many of them ended up joining universities in Europe, including the UK. Having already been in the UK when the war began in February 2022, I felt that I could do more to welcome these new arriving students and help form a community. This was my primary motivation but in addition to this, I wanted to find more people I could talk to and I feel that I have definitely succeeded in this. I can confidently call many of our members my friends.   

“In addition to community-building, we aim to support our country and raise awareness of the situation there. The most common type of events that we hold are charity bake-sales. Usually, we direct our profits towards helping the Ukrainian military or charity organisations in the country. We once organised a screening of Mstyslav Chernov’s Oscar-winning documentary “20 Days in Mariupol”, for which we contacted the distributor of the movie and obtained a DVD, which we later sent back per our agreement. Another event we hosted was a panel discussion on the subject of human rights during the war, attended by several international experts.  

"Our efforts as a team have been noticed, with our society winning the ‘Best New Society of 2023-2024’. Although I am no longer the head of the society, I continue being involved and I am sure that we will continue to grow and achieve.