Confronted, closer than comfortable, by pandemics, war and incertitude, we, the University of Applied Sciences of St. Pölten and, most importantly, its students, could not just stand idly by, tears streaming down our faces included. Therefore, on March 10th, we were glad to  greet more people than expected at our “Hilfe für die Ukraine” (Help for Ukraine) event, where our students of Ukrainian descent  (and not only) were brought up to date with the possiblities that our univeristy and other oragnisations offer them in these times of need. We all had the chance to learn a bit more about the fascinating Ukranian poeple and country, and could literally contribute to the effort, due to the donation box set in place (all donations got to the Red Cross).

At the end of the event, I had the honor to talk with two of our students with Ukrainian roots, Pavlo and Kristina. We started small, in childhood, when the springs in Ukraine were universally joyful and free and, later on, the only worry would be where to go out and who with. Needless to say, we did brush on the subject of war and even of the wartime president Zelensky, after all a “young” political figure, even for his younger supporters as well as contenders. Nonetheless, the arching image was one of positivity, of optimism even, of strength and conviction of being on the right side of history.