Mykolas Romeris University (MRU) Erasmus exchange student Samuel Camilleri Brancaleone from Malta has nothing but praise for MRU Law School lecturers and his 6-month stay in Vilnius. If anything, he wishes he could have spent another semester at MRU studying international law.
Brancaleone, who returned to Malta Feb. 4th to complete his Bachelor’s Degree in Law at the University of Malta, studied International Law and international institutions while at MRU. He praised MRU Prof. Danutė Jočienė, a former Judge of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) for her insightful lectures. He said it was also extremely interesting to visit the Constitutional Court, where Jočienė is now a sitting Justice.
“Studies at MRU were perfect down to the last detail,” the student said speaking of his Erasmus exchange at MRU. He became friends with students from Italy, Slovakia and the Czech Republic and mentioned that he would be flying to attend a fellow classmate’s birthday party in March in Prague.
“I didn’t want to leave MRU. People find it weird that I prefer other countries over my own. It’s part of the Maltese experience. The younger generation has a tendency to prefer other countries,” he said.
The Law student said he is hoping to complete studies this year and then study for his Master’s Degree in Law. But eventually he said he is drawn to work in the diplomatic corps and thinks that a law degree is good preparation for such an international career.
“When choosing where I wanted to go on Erasmus exchange, I wanted to go somewhere that was very different from Malta,” said the 23-year-old student. “Admittedly, Vilnius was not my first choice. When given a list of places to choose from I was considering Paris, Budapest and Salzburg and even the U.S. But upon further research both on Vilnius and Mykolas Romeris University, I found out that the Law School has a very good reputation. I thought it would be a nice place to spend six months of my life here,” he said.
Vilnius will be memorable for many reasons, but not the least that it was here that he first saw snow. Near the MRU Student House Brancaleone last year even built a snowman with fellow students.
“One of the things that I remember the most from my stay in Vilnius was actually on my last day when I walked along the river and went up to the Gediminas Tower and looked over the city as it snowed. It was magical.,” he said.
“If I had to single out a memory at MRU, I would have to say it was when I was working on an assignment in the Library and it was snowing outside. The atmosphere at that moment was wonderful and wasn't something that I felt before. It’s quite difficult to explain, but sitting in a quiet, well-kept library, working on a subject I like, while playing my favorite songs, while it snows outside brought me a sense of satisfaction I had never experienced before.”
He said that Valletta is much smaller than Vilnius. “If you walk all of Gediminas Avenue, you have walked all of Valletta,” explained Brancaleone.
In his free time in Vilnius and between Law studies, Brancaleone studied Dutch language, after meeting some students from the Netherlands. After making friends with some Slovak students, he decided to begin studying Slovak language as well.
I loved visiting other countries, while I was on my Erasmus exchange. I went to Tallinn 4 times. I visited Helsinki, Oslo, Stockholm, Copenhagen and Amsterdam.
Brancaleone said he feels lucky to have been able to spend his Erasmus abroad at MRU. There was so much I learned. Perhaps one day I will be able to return for a visit or to present a lecture, he added.
