Having completed her education at an Italian school in Greece and being fluent in Italian, Greek, and English, Maria Elena has, since the beginning of her academic path, experienced multiculturalism as a defining element of her personal identity. Studying law in the Italian city of Bologna, renowned for its centuries-old academic excellence, later profoundly shaped her into a curious and ambitious individual, passionate about many legal fields, particularly those that transcend national borders. This curiosity was further strengthened during her exchange semester at the University of Ghent in Belgium, where she deepened her expertise in European Union law and refined both her academic and personal skills. In 2025, she completed a full-time internship at the European Public Law Organization in Athens (Greece), where she contributed to the organisation of the “Circular Gaia Symposium 2025” and presented the closing Awards Ceremony. For the purposes of her LLM thesis, she conducted research on EU Internal Market Law, examining the interplay between the national identity clause enshrined in Article 4(2) TEU and potential derogations to the fundamental freedoms underpinning the Internal Market. Motivated by her keen interest in European integration, she further enhanced her legal understanding through an internship at the Legal Department of the Permanent Representation of Greece to the European Union. Eager to deepen her insight into how the EU functions from within, particularly in the field of competition law, Maria Elena is confident in her aspiration to play an active role within the inspiring and unique legal system that is the European Union.