Jitka
Grundmanová

My name is Jitka Grundmanová and I come from a family of six from Pilsen. After high school I graduated with a Bachelor's degree in International Studies - Diplomacy at the University of Economics in Prague. The desire to travel and study abroad was the reason why I did not finish my Master's degree at the University of Economics and went to try my luck in the USA. In August 2011, after passing the entrance exams and receiving financial support from the Martina and Tomáš Krsek Foundation, I started my studies at Columbia University in New York. Although I remained committed to international politics at Columbia in the School of International and Public Affairs, my focus is International Finance and Economic Policy and my specialization is Management. I could not have imagined the quality of education at Columbia any better. In my first semester, I took courses taught by some of the most influential experts not only in the U.S., but internationally.

In the Conceptual Foundations of International Affairs course, we had a lecture by Nobel Prize winner Joseph Stiglitz, and the European Union course was taught by former Hungarian Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai. In the second semester, the lecturer of the Innovative Leadership in Public Policy-making course was none other than Professor Jan Švejnar. Thanks to my excellent performance in the first year, I was selected as a Department Research Assistant in Finance and Accounting for the fall semester of this year and then as a Teaching Assistant in Macroeconomics for the spring semester.

I will also be one of twenty students accepted into the prestigious International Fellows Program, which aims to expose students to American foreign policy and the changing role of the U.S. on the global economic and political stage. I am currently completing an internship at the United Nations in New York City, in the Department of Economic and Social Affairs. The result of my internship will be a report published on the UN website. Topic: NGO participation in this year's United Nations Economic and Social Council.