Woman who fled Ukraine gets first-class degree

Elina Bodnar says the language barrier was "very difficult" at the start of her studies

A Ukrainian woman who fled her home country following the invasion by Russian forces in February 2022 has graduated from the University of Bradford.

Elina Bodnar, 20, left her home in Donetsk with her parents and younger brother following the outbreak of war.

The family moved to Wiltshire to live with a host family and Elina, who had always dreamed of one day designing video games, secured a place to study graphics for games.

Elina, who graduated with a first-class degree despite struggling with her English at the start of her course, said: "I feel very excited for my future."

Remembering the start of the conflict, she said: "Lots of bombs landed around, it was very, very loud. Very scary.

"Sometimes you could just wake up in the middle of the night and see a big explosion. It was really, really scary."

The family moved to Lviv, closer to the Polish border.

But when the opportunity came on 15 July 2022 - a week before Elina's 18th birthday - for Elina, her brother Oleksii, and her mum, Yana, to move to the UK, they took it.

"At the start it was very difficult, first of all, because of the language barrier," said Elina, whose English is now perfect.

She said she would never have imagined that she would be graduating from an English university with a first-class degree when thinks back to her time at school in Ukraine.

"I thought that maybe one day in the future I would visit England, because I really wanted to," she said.

"I never thought that I was going to ended up finishing university in the UK with quite a high mark."

Elina and her classmates bonded on a university trip to China

Elina said she and her classmates are now looking to their futures and some of them have teamed up to make their dreams of designing video games for a living become a reality.

Elina is part of a group that has entered the Tranzfuser competition, a UK Games Fund scheme that supports graduates to build successful video game development studios.

They have created a role-playing adventure game set in a 3D pixel-art world rooted in Slavic folklore.

Every team received a £7,500 prize upon entering the competition, which was intended to cover initial expenses like travel, accommodation, and game development costs.

They will go to Dundee to present their project in September, which provides an opportunity to pitch for grant support from the UK Games Fund.

Elina said she hoped that following the competition, she could extend her visa and settle in the UK.

"My plan for the future is to try to settle in the UK and find a really nice job," she said.

"Obviously I will visit Ukraine and my family, but only for a holiday.

"I'm not seeing my future as being actually in Ukraine.

"I think that here in the UK I have more of a way to grow and a way to improve my skills and actually do what I want to do."

Dr Fin Caton-Rose interviewed Elina before she enrolled at the university

Dr Fin Caton-Rose interviewed Elina more than three years ago when she applied for the course.

"Since she's joined us, she's been an asset to the entire university," he said.

"She's really engaged with not just the course, but also extra-curricular activities."

He said her time at the university had included many highlights, but one in particular was a trip to a partner university in China.

While studying, Elina stayed with Anne-Marie Edwardes in Bingley.

"She's a wonderful lady," Mrs Edwardes said.

"She's a great cook, she's taught us lots of Ukrainian dishes at home.

"To think she came into the country just over three years ago and look where she is now, it's brilliant."

Elina's mum, Yana said she was "very proud" of her daughter.

"It was a very difficult time for us, but Elina's graduation is very special and I'm really, really happy."

Elina's mum, Yana, celebrates her graduation with Anne-Marie Edwardes, who hosted Elina in Bingley

"I still cannot believe that it has actually happened," Elina said.

"It feels like I just entered the university yesterday."

But she said that her "full focus" is on the Tranzfuser competition and securing work in the UK.

"Life starts right now", she said.

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