The BA School of Business and Finance is proud of its students and graduates. This section is created in honour of those students and graduates of the BA School of Business and Finance who not only have presented themselves well in the study process, but also achieved success in their professional career, have successful projects or outstanding results in sport. Here are some success stories of the BA School of Business and Finance.

Andis Laveiķis, 2v1 group student of Bachelor’s degree study programme "Business Administration" of the BA School of Business and Finance

In August 2009, in the framework of Erasmus programme, I went to Belgium, Antwerp, together with my course mate Oskars Eņģelis. We were a little bit thrilled to get to the new, unfamiliar international environment, and at the same time we were full of enthusiasm and motivation. Our thrill and apprehension vanished as soon as we arrived in our final destination, Antwerp. I have to say that this city surprised us with its splendour and opportunities it offered. During the first month I met about 150 students from the whole Europe, I studied very hard and partied very much. In the framework of Erasmus, we were offered high quality education in very good English and a lot of different social events. One month later I was already able to communicate with Belgians in Dutch and knew about Belgium and Antwerp more general information than about Latvia and Riga.

My daily life did not differ much from the one I had in Latvia: high quality study process at school every day and participation in orienteering competitions at weekends. However, I would especially like to stress some of the opportunities we took, i.e. the opportunities to meet many interesting people, attend cheerful events and travel. We toured across Belgium as well as went sightseeing in Paris, Bremen, Hague, Rotterdam and Amsterdam.

Now, when I am back to Latvia with numerous new adventures and memories of my time spent participating in Erasmus exchange programme offered by the BA School of Business and Finance, I can definitely say that Erasmus is the experience which I would recommend anyone to enjoy. Your Erasmus time is in your own hands, it provides opportunities and you just have to take them!

P.S. During my time in Belgium I also continued doing sports, and in order to demonstrate you that Erasmus is also an opportunity to express and perfect yourself, I invite you to read some publications about me in Belgian mass media:

"If there is Paradise on Earth, it is in Portugal. Portugal is a place where all your dreams come true."

"Leonardo da Vinci" student exchange programme
TBZ, S.A. "Estadio Cidade de Coimbra"

I went to Portugal for my placement with the intention to work in an enterprise and then write the placement report. I could not even suspect what I was going to experience during those three months spent in that warm country. Who could imagine that changes in my life will be so dramatic that my whole world view will be turned upside down?  I lived in my small world before, and TV was the only way for me to watch the work of high-level professionals involved in football stadium management and all activities that happen there.

All began with the words: "I could do anything for a good person! But I cannot make a person do what he/she does not want to do," my coordinator said to me. He knew well that I liked sport and especially football, so he asked me: “Would you like to work on a football stadium?” The answer was very quick: "Yes, of course!"

The next morning we went to see my new work place. When I saw a huge football stadium (with 33 000 spectator’s seats), I got lost and could not say a word. For some time, I was standing there amazed with an open mouth. Then I looked at my coordinator who smiled and said: "You will work and have your placement here!"

During the placement, I attended four football games of local ACADEMICA Coimbra football club and a concert of George Michael 25 Live. Those were unforgettable feelings and a good life experience to see how TBZ team of professionals works on the organization of events of such scale. It was my life-long dream to work in this particular field which is closely related to the organisation of sport activities, concerts and different events.

Here (during my placement) I understood what I would like to do in my future life and what my future career will be like!

I came to a conclusion and now I know it for sure: "If you are given an opportunity to do something incredible that has never been experienced before, take this opportunity without hesitation. Maybe your life-long dream is waiting for you somewhere. Maybe this is the opportunity of your life!!!"

I want to thank the BA School of Business and Finance and particularly the Department of International Studies for the unique opportunity to have placement in Vienna, Austria, in the framework of Erasmus project.

The placement lasted only 3 months, but knowledge and skills gained during this period can be equal to 2 years of life in a usual pace. Placement in Vienna not only helped me acquire valuable knowledge and develop important professional skills, but also broadened my outlook and made an enormous contribution to the improvement of my personal qualities. Thanks to the placement in an Austrian enterprise, I got an excellent opportunity to explore Central European work style more deeply, get acquainted with Austrian standards of labour and learn to successfully cooperate with people from another culture. The most important properties that first and foremost I appreciate working in an international team are loyalty, deep respect towards colleagues and positive attitude to life.

Erasmus placement from BA School of Business and Finance not only improved my professional knowledge, skills and traits of character, but also helped me to enter the Master’s degree study programme of an Austrian higher education institution, which not only confirmed the high quality and professional competence of Bachelor’s degree programme “Finance” of the BA School of Business and Finance, but also emphasized the recognition and high value of international experience.

Thank you for the wonderful opportunity to accumulate excellent work experience, acquire good knowledge and considerably improve further career perspectives.

Studied at Manchester Metropolitan University in the framework of an exchange programme

I want to express my gratitude to the BA School of Business and Finance for the opportunity to study in England at Manchester Metropolitan University in the framework of ERASMUS exchange programme. I spent three unforgettable months in Foggy Albion.

It was not easy to study because a special programme for ERASMUS students was not developed in this university and the studies took place together with all other students. On the other hand, it was good, because I could completely enjoy and get acquainted with British study process. In my opinion, the main advantage of studying in England is multinational environment. In my group, there were students from all continents of the world. Studying together with them, I learned new things not only about England, but also about the rest of the world. I established friendly relationships with students from Denmark, Belgium and England.

I lived in Crewe town (where my student campus was located), and such cities as Liverpool and Manchester were only 30 minutes away by train. These cities are like a paradise for people who like English culture, music and football. Prices are rather high, however this is a unique opportunity to see the best English musicians and football teams. During my stay in England, I also managed to visit other large English cities such as London and Birmingham.

University personnel and people living in English cities, who surprised with their benevolence and helpfulness, created a very pleasant environment. Student life in Britain is at a very high level: different theme events for students are organised both in university campus and city centre clubs. Local students are also rather active. I was offered to take up different sports and even an opportunity to join some sport or dance society. During the studies, I improved my English and my communication skills, extended my vision of life and economic development in different corners of the world and met good friends from other European countries.

The BA School of Business and Finance has always been distinguished by its ability to provide opportunities for working on international projects including Euroweek (international conference of applied research projects). No other higher education institution in Latvia except the BA School of Business and Finance offers so many opportunities for fostering self-development and establishing international contacts. This aspect is extremely important to every student, as the years of studies are the years of opportunities and it is very foolish not to take them.

Like in previous year, this year Euroweek conference did not take place without incidents. All flights were cancelled due to volcano eruption and it was necessary to develop a contingency plan of getting to Lille, France, where this event was planned to be held. Finally, we jumped into the cars and set out! It was one of the most interesting weeks of my life! I met so many interesting people, enjoyed the culture and, of course, applied my knowledge in practice.

After this project, you realise that you have learned something: developed your language skills, used the acquired theoretical knowledge and considerably improved your ability to present yourself not only during presentations, but also in everyday life. At the same time you understand that you have to learn much, because you also attend other students’ presentations, evaluate them and learn from their performance. At any rate, we demonstrated that our students can present themselves well not only at their school, but also in the international level. We have brought one gold and one silver medal.

Now we are waiting and preparing for our next year’s MEETING IN PORTUGAL, COIMBRA!