Students enrolled in Elizabethtown College Professor of Political Science Oya Dursun-Ozkanca’s European Union Simulation I course took part in the three-day long 2022 Mid-Atlantic EU Simulation Consortium Conference in Washington, D.C. during the fall semester. The EU Simulation included participation by nearly 150 students from fifteen different colleges and universities in the Mid-Atlantic area.
The Etown delegation, made up of six students, represented members of the Greek Cabinet or the European Parliament. During the simulation, the students participated in debates about topics including the welfare of Ukrainian refugees and human trafficking.
Throughout the semester, students in the Dursun-Ozkanca’s European Union Simulation course learned about the history of European political development and the structure of the European Union, and they acquired the skills necessary to become insightful interpreters of European politics. This conference gave the students a chance to experience the EU decision-making processes in person and helped to hone their public speaking, interpersonal communication, and negotiation skills.
“We would have thirty-minute debates over a single world change because of the sheer gravity of the topics,” sophomore Political Science major Ryan Strzelecki ’25 said. “When my group passed a contentious amendment that gave refugees more legal protections, I was so happy and relieved. It felt like what we just did was going to go into effect and change people’s lives.”
During the conference, two students, Ryan Strzelecki ’25 and Kayla Shultz ’23 were elected to leadership positions as the Vice President of the European People’s Party and the Vice-Chair of the Left in the European Parliament, respectively.
As the Vice-Chair of the Left, Strzelecki led the members of his political group and coordinated his group’s position on amendments. He said working on complex issues like human trafficking was an incredibly emotional experience that led to lengthy, heated debates.
Strzelecki said the simulation reinforced everything he learned throughout the semester by turning theoretical lessons into reality. Beyond learning more about the EU, treaties, and politics, he gained a great deal of confidence from the experience.
“I went into the simulation on the first day thinking I would take a back seat and let those older and wiser than me take the lead,” Strzelecki said.” By the end of the first day, my attitude completely shifted. I realized that I was one of the most prepared students there and that I could be a leader. I took a leap of faith, and I ended up leading my small political group into becoming one of the most influential ones, which is an accomplishment I did not see coming.”
