Polina completed her Bachelor of Commerce in Accounting and International Business at the Sauder School of Business in December 2007. Having gone on exchange at Sciences Po Paris in her third year, she was keen to go on and complete a Masters program in Europe to round out her education.  Subsequently, she was offered and accepted a scholarship  at the London School of Economics to pursue an MSc in Law and Accounting.

Polina graduated with her MSc in September 2009 and started work as Management Information Analyst at Hiscox. Hiscox,  a specialist insurer based in Bermuda, operates both a Syndicate business through Lloyd's and a retail business in the UK, Europe and the US. In her role as Management Information Analyst, she works for the UK Finance Director with a small team who is responsible for operating data and performance analysis. In this capacity she has the opportunity to work on a variety of analytical projects and presentations and see the performance of all portions of one of the largest divisions in the company.

Polina was born in the Soviet Union, in what is now Estonia, and emigrated with her parents to Vancouver in 1995. Having been lucky enough to see different places around the world, she is happy today to live in a city she describes as her favourite of all: London.  "I love the variety in London, the different feel of the neighbourhoods, as well as the fantastic access to world class art, sports, entertainment, shopping and the Eurostar to my second favourite city, Paris". In her leisure time, Polina loves to travel and makes an effort to see old friends abroad as well as new places. She is also a professional tennis umpire with Wimbledon and the Beijing Olympics as part of her credentials.

When asked for advice for recent Sauder graduates, she offers the following: "My best advice is that it's quite alright not to follow the straight and narrow path that the rest of your peer group might be on. I never quite did things the advised and regular way, and this has led me to more interesting opportunities. My second piece of advice would be to get out and see the world. Vancouver is a nice enough city, but you will appreciate it more if you see other places (or less, depending on what you find!), and who knows, you might find somewhere you like even better, like I did."

Polina is looking forward to being involved with the Sauder Business Club of London.