Striving for Greatness An Interview with Nadia Volkova

Alexandra Acosta
Staff Writer
aacosta4@email.Lynn.edu

Nadia Volkova is a Russian-Antiguan freshman at Lynn University studying Social Entrepreneurship at the Watson Institute.

Volkova chose Lynn because of the Watson Institute’s experiential learning program and shares that she is “a practical person rather than a theoretical person.”

Volkova created a startup called the International Media Lab (iML), a non-profit social venture designed to create a sustainable community for young students who want to succeed in media-related industries. Their target audience is low-income households and underprivileged students. iML follows the fourth of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): quality education for all.

“I think Nadia is a natural-born leader who leads in a way that encourages excitement and dedication rather than fear. She is a go-getter who shows no fear nor trepidation and sees what she wants and goes after it. It’s a very admirable quality, I must say,” said Northwestern graduate Blair Dunbar who met Volkova through EducationUSA and is the co-founder of iML.

“She’s so friendly and welcoming, and I’m happy I met her. I feel like I can learn a lot from her, and I’m not just saying that because she’s my boss,” said Dakota Fernandez, iML’s digital artist.

Volkova is associated with many members of the Lynn community, such as other Watson students, Dr. Varga, Dr. Watson and Ben Fagan in the Career Connections Center, her mentor. Volkova also hosts a podcast called “They Us We,”wherein she speaks with other Lynn students on wide-ranging topics depending on her guests.

Volkova enjoys doing acro-yoga, photography and journaling. She says one of her most significant weaknesses is overthinking and getting ahead of herself and others when working on a topic. Her strengths include thinking strategically and being creative at the same time.

“I think she is very determined. She’s willing to do whatever it takes to succeed, and that’s commendable,” said film student Salma Moran, a senior at Lynn.

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