‘I would never have dreamed of studying at Oxford University.’

With her engaging smile and amiable demeanour, Alina Kravchuk could be mistaken for any other young and promising university student. Her journey to this point, however, has been anything but ordinary. Born and educated in Ukraine, she found the trajectory of her legal studies interrupted by the Russian invasion, compelling her to relocate to foreign universities, first in Lithuania and then Vienna. When the opportunity of a place on Oxford’s Magister Juris course presented itself—along with the means to fully fund it—Alina could scarcely believe the chance she was being offered.

Ms. Kravchuk is the 2024/2025 recipient of the Sanctuary Scholarship, a partnership between the Council of Lutheran Churches and Mansfield College, Oxford, offered each year to an outstanding scholar who has been forced to migrate from their home and has sought sanctuary in the UK. (You can learn more about the scholarship here.)

Alina’s gratitude punctuates her conversation. ‘I am able to be here due to this scholarship which covers all my tuition fees and living expenses. It’s very inspiring to study [at Oxford]; you’re observing and getting knowledge from the best legal minds, and then you are experiencing eventful student life. It’s a great experience for me.’

The Magister Juris programme offers a particular focus on corporate finance, as well as the legal aspects of taxation for multinational corporations. Combining this with her special interest and prior education in renewable energy development (beginning with her studies in Lithuania), Alina has long-term aspirations to being part of the post-war rebuilding of her native Ukraine, once conflict in that country ceases.

The full interview with this year’s CLC/Mansfield Sanctuary Scholar will be available on our upcoming podcast, Lutherans in the UK–Living Grace. (Link will be included once the episode is live.)