1. Who is Tomáš Čorej? If you had to tell St. Peter at the gates of Heaven what it is that drives and motivates you, what you hope for and strive for, what would you tell him?
I am a 21-year old student of liberal arts with a strong attachment to the country I come from, Slovakia. If there is anything to drive and motivate me, it is curiosity in the broadest sense of this word. An important part of my identity is being a journalist, covering what is going on around me and trying to understand it to the extent it is possible. I have always been a person asking questions rather than having definitive answers to them. I believe in evolutionary rather than revolutionary progress.
You are a busy man and have been even as you started BISLA. Your choice to interrupt your studies for a year to spend a semester in Prague and the other at internship, work, and Ukraine, may seem a bit surprising. You could have been a graduate now, jumping to work life at full speed. What did you want to gain from this year away? Has it fulfilled this promise or do you kick yourself for not finishing the school in three years?
The thing is, I have never wanted to be constantly busy or dive headfirst into the working world. I do think it is a privilege not to rush through either my education or my career, as it allows me to gain a better understanding of my strengths and weaknesses. By taking a break from BISLA, my main goal was to experience different university systems to ensure my flexibility and ability to step out of my comfort zone. I even intentionally selected a destination that was less common among BISLA students. While I often felt lonely during my first semester in Prague, it was undeniably an eye-opening experience that made me appreciate my “Bratislava life” much more. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend other students to extend their studies as I did, but for those with a bit more time, patience, and resources, it could be a worthwhile decision.
- During the past two years, you have spent many weeks in Ukraine as a journalist, observer, volunteer. I can imagine such travels to be quite life-changing. What did you do there and what have you learned about yourself, people, the world from these encounters?
I do think it was life-changing. It feels a bit odd to be talking about myself when the main focus should be centered around the people of Ukraine who have been suffering from the Russian war for over ten years. Even though the war has entered a new phase — which many now say is a war of attrition — we should not forget the very goal of the Putin regime was to destroy Ukrainian statehood and to do it fast. I will never forget the analysts back in February 2022 predicting Kyiv would fall in a week or two. Ukraine fought nonetheless. That remains the most valuable lesson: there are moments when you gotta fight for the right thing even if it makes little sense just for the sake of doing it. Walking down the streets of free Kyiv, Kharkiv or Chernihiv remains the most intense feeling even years after Ukrainians pushed the occupiers out.
- What one-sentence message do you have for your younger BISLA colleagues?
I don’t really feel comfortable advising anyone but I think trying an internship or Erasmus might be helpful if someone is willing to try either of these opportunities.