Alumni on ECLA
Eliza Subotowicz, Poland
Attended: International Summer University 2002, Academy Year 2002/03 & Project Year 2003/04
Currently: Film Directing, Columbia University School of the Arts, New York
I started my adventure with ECLA at the International Summer School in 2002. My understanding of the concept of liberal arts was rather vague at the time but I caught on very quickly fascinated by the idea of "totality" of knowledge: reading philosophy was coupled with examining texts in political science, literature, art history, natural sciences, musicology, and others, and watching and discussing great films was as important as reading great books. Besides its curriculum, what is special at ECLA is its working environment: a close bond between international faculty and the students from all over the world, a group of fantastic young people eager to learn and share their views and knowledge on any important topic.
As it happened I applied to ECLA's first one-year programme and then the second. At the time I was a student at Warsaw University in the Inter-Faculty Individual Studies in the Humanities with English as my major, but thanks to my university's collaboration with ECLA I managed to count those two years in towards my degree at Warsaw University. My second-year research paper at ECLA became my M.A. dissertation for my home university and I graduated from it in 2004.
I don't have much to do with academics anymore but I value my experience at ECLA enormously. I might not have been where I am now if it hadn't been for ECLA after all. Besides purely academic knowledge, ECLA teaches you to think critically, to question reasonably, to write carefully and not to be afraid to ask questions. It also encourages students' creative endeavors, be it in music, film, theatre, journalism, etc. At ECLA I founded a literary magazine, I took voice lessons, I helped friends in editing their movies, I participated in acting workshops-all of the things I hadn't had the chance to do before. Surrounded by talented, intelligent people, I felt it natural to push myself more and take part in different creative processes.