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By Oliver Farrimond
A SCOTS university is celebrating being the first to have a Polish student president.
Kasia Bylinska, from Szczecin in Poland, came to Edinburgh on holiday in July 2007, and liked the city so much she decided to stay.
Despite arriving with only £300 in her pocket, she was able to transfer her degree to Edinburgh Napier University and is now the President of their students association.
22-year-old Kasia said: “I came to Edinburgh just for holiday and to earn a bit of money and I absolutely loved it.
“When I was finding out whether I could transfer my studies, Edinburgh Napier said it would be absolutely no problem.
“I’m very happy because it shows that Polish people are smart, and can achieve things if they want to.
“I’m very proud of my nation and personally ecstatic because now I can do something for the students at Edinburgh Napier.”
“I loved Edinburgh because of the lovely architecture and lovely people – plus I had a good job that I enjoyed.”
Kasia worked part-time at Waitrose in Morningside until starting her full-time position as student president.
Having originally studied Business Economics at the University of Szczecin, Kasia now has a Bachelors degree in Economics with Management – with honours – to add to her impressive CV.
As well as planning the university’s imminent freshers’ week, one of her main aims as student president is to bring international students like herself at the university closer together.
She said: “Edinburgh Napier is a very international and diversified university – that’s probably the main difference between here and my university back home.
“I want to use my time as student president to bring people together, although Edinburgh Napier is very diverse it’s not integrated enough.”
The recently re-branded Edinburgh Napier University enjoys a healthy international reputation, with more than 2,500 international students from more than 80 countries studying.
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