Hi! I’m Katya, a third-year English and French student at the University of Leeds and part of the 2025/26 Laidlaw Scholar cohort. I am currently an Events and Marketing Intern at the Laidlaw Foundation. My research project topic in 2025 was titled ‘Distinctiveness in the Poetry Activity of the Leeds City Region’. I worked in partnership with the National Poetry Centre to conduct interviews with key stakeholders in the poetry scene, which enabled me to draw conclusions about the levels of connectivity and accessibility in Leeds's poetry scene. In the second year of the programme, I completed my LiA in Auckland, New Zealand, volunteering as a Community Engagement and Media Intern at Youth Arts New Zealand to amplify youth creativity through storytelling and community engagement. I’m originally from Russia but moved to Slovenia for political reasons when I was 15, then to the UK at 19, and just completed an academic year abroad in Canada, so I’ve had a fair share of adapting to new places. Moving countries meant leaving behind everything I knew, including eight years of acrobatic gymnastics, but it also helped me become more open to change. I see each new chapter as a chance to grow, connect, and tell meaningful stories. Outside of uni, you’ll probably find me at the gym (a post-acrobatics obsession), with my nose in a book, or planning my next trip—I’ve been to 36 countries so far and don’t plan on slowing down!