Reflecting on My Experience with CIEE in Tallinn - Peace & Diplomacy Program

Meet Vara: An Alumnus of the Diplomacy and Peace Program in Tallinn

Vara, an alumnus of the Diplomacy and Peace program in Tallinn, Estonia, has an inspiring journey to share. Born and raised in Moldova, Vara now calls Florida home. Having just graduated from an art school in Miami, she is taking a gap year to go to Germany and represent the US. Here's her story of the CIEE Tallinn experience!

Now that it’s my last week studying with CIEE in Tallinn, I feel like I can reflect on my experiences and share them with others. It feels like I’ve known my fellow CIEErs for way longer than 3 weeks, as we have gotten so close, but nevertheless the time flew by very fast.

I wouldn’t say that I personally faced challenges on this program, as I always had support from my colleagues and CIEE staff, who always checked up on me and made sure I was safe and satisfied. My program leaders made sure that the experience was filled with fun activities, high level visits, educational activities and always checked up on us.

As soon as our first day, we went to Riigikogu (Estonian Parliament), where we got the chance to talk to Jüri Ratas, a Parliament member of Estonia. We asked him questions about the structure of the Estonian government as well as his opinions on certain Estonian subjects. On the second day, the CIEE team organized us a visit to Estonia’s Presidential Palace, where our tour guide told us everything from the history of the palace’s architecture to its former presidents. Visits to cultural places like these really gave us an insight of Estonian history and government. During week 2, we met a few U.S. Diplomats and the U.S. Ambassador of Tallinn, who talked to us about Diplomacy and what it is like to work in foreign affairs. On one of our visits, we went to the university of Tallinn and talked to a professor about their new invention they’ve been testing around Tallinn: self-driving cars.

Meeting so many interesting people has inspired each one of us to study more about a specific topic. For me, I understood that Diplomacy and International Relations was something that I definitely wanted to do, leading me to research about Estonia’s rapid development and new technologies. This has contributed to my end-of program project, where I prepared a presentation about small states’ influence on the global scale. While doing my presentation, I got inspired by Estonia’s importance despite its small size, leading me to research about the importance of other small states like Estonia. My professors have always provided me with feedback and support, teaching me about Estonian history, government and culture, while listening to my opinions and questions.

On one of the assignments, I had to record a video, where I had to speak Estonian with the locals. Completing this assignment made me overcome my fear of speaking to foreigners in their language, revealing to me that Estonians were friendly and always willing to help. Although I was nervous about approaching strangers, this experience made me extraverted and open-minded to people of different countries.

Even before the program started, I was grateful to have gotten the scholarship, so when I finally started the program, I wanted to return the favor to CIEE for sponsoring my trip. Since I’ve been open about the opportunity to go to Tallinn with my friends back home, I began posting my adventures on Instagram, for all my friends to see how wonderful the program was. I posted selfies with my CIEE friends every day next to the places we visited with the program. My program leaders noticed my activity and appreciation of the program, and offered me an opportunity to do an Instagram takeover for a day. I took the opportunity, and took over the CIEE Tallinn official account on our trip to Haapsalu, where I posted my adventures, and answered questions about CIEE, Estonia, and the program focus.

With all the opportunities CIEE has offered me, I feel like the program has not only met, but exceeded my expectations. I made so many new friends, interacted with the locals, visited historically important sites, talked to diplomats, tried new food, and learned about Estonian culture and government. I got to do the takeover, where I included my own and my fellow CIEErs thoughts about the program. This program will definitely be the highlight of my high school experience and I will always appreciate CIEE for letting me do it.

- Vara