The Lithuanian National Union of Students (LSS) is proud of its members and their achievements, so we want to share them and encourage the exchange of good practices within the community. Today, Saulius Paukštė, Head of International Students’ Affairs at VILNIUS TECH Students’ Representation (SR), shares his experience representing international students and his impressions from international student representatives’ meetings.
How and why did you decide to focus on representing international students?
It would be nice to say that from the very beginning I felt a kind of spark to represent international students. In reality, it was more practical — last spring, our faculty team needed someone prepared to represent international students. I study in English and have been an academic group representative since my first year, so in my daily studies I naturally get closer to understanding the challenges faced by students from other countries.
I used to attend wrestling training sessions with the faculty student association chairman, so he knew about my wish to join VILNIUS TECH SR in the upcoming fall. Eventually, during the summer, while helping with our mentor program, the current president of VILNIUS TECH SR invited me to represent international students in his team.
What differences do you notice between representing Lithuanian students and international students in Lithuania?
Representing international students requires understanding that these are people who sometimes grow up in a drastically different cultural context. Practices that seem normal to us may appear differently or not exist at all in their home countries. Moreover, the challenges of international students are sometimes unique to them — for example, a local student in Vilnius will never ask for help to extend a temporary residence permit (TRP). This means you need to be ready to recognize that your approach to solving a problem, or even what you consider a problem, may be incorrect.
Do you think representing international students in Lithuania could still improve?
There’s always room for improvement! I often notice a lack of visibility and voice. Sometimes the focus is on representing Lithuanian students simply because most students are Lithuanian, so their issues are easier to notice. On the one hand, many problems overlap, so helping one group automatically benefits the other, but this can lead to overlooking the nuances of issues faced specifically by international students. It also doesn’t help when the student representative is rarely not Lithuanian.
How did you decide to participate in international student representatives’ meetings?
Even before the elections, the future president and I agreed that one of my responsibilities would be international representation. I see participating in the Baltic Organizational Meeting (BOM), The Nordiskt Ordförande Møte (NOM), and university alliance meetings as another opportunity to share good practices and give students from other countries a chance to be heard alongside the expression of Lithuanian higher education policy. Within my own student association, I often help others with social and academic matters and more, so seeing things from another perspective is very valuable.
How many and which international meetings have you attended?
I have attended the BOM meeting at the last LSS Assembly and the 87th NOM meeting in Norway, which took place in early October. The latter probably left the biggest impression. Spending some time within my own university’s student association, you can sometimes feel like an almost-expert representative. The knowledge and expertise of representatives from different national student unions often made me just want to sit and listen — how much I still have to learn! Also, the youngest member of the Norwegian Parliament is only 19 years old, and youth in general receive a lot of attention both in politics and education.
What surprised you the most about LSS compared to international student representation?
The difference in practices — almost every country’s higher education system is different, so national student unions have to operate differently, although the goals are often the same. Also, the scale of issues is different. To represent students effectively at meetings like BOM, you need not only to know your national higher education policy well but also to be able to identify differences between educational systems.
Share your most memorable story from international meetings.
During one meeting, a representative gave us plant-based milk for our hotel room fridge. When we asked why, the simple explanation was: “So that the hotel would pay for it for you.”
Photos from Saulius’ personal archive
