Thirty-five years ago, Ms Liz Boyles, a young woman from Sheffield with a language degree, saw a newspaper advertisement that changed her life. With rather low expectations, Ms Boyles applied to become a diplomat and was accepted. Throughout her brilliant 35-year-long diplomatic career, Her Excellency served in missions to Brussels (EU and UN), Israel, Syria, Colombia, Ecuador, San Salvador, Afghanistan, Finland, and Lithuania. 

On 27 October, Her Excellency Ms Liz Boyles, the British Ambassador in Lithuania, gave a guest lecture for English Philology students. In her honest talk "A Journey in Diplomacy: Reflections from a Female Ambassador", Her Excellency shared the intricacies of being a female diplomat in the times when diversity was not yet a thing. Ms Boyles openly spoke about experiencing impostor syndrome, making career mistakes, and overcoming public speaking anxiety. 

The ambassador pointed out that a career in diplomacy is more accessible than most people think and encouraged the students to pursue their dreams: ‘Have confidence in yourself. Believe in yourself. Imposter syndrome would just hit me so many times in my career… You can do it!  You know, I never thought I'd get to be an ambassador. But here I am now. So never give up on your dream of what you want to do, because if you work hard enough and you prepare along the way, even if it is not quite as you expected, you are going to go through the steps, you will get there in the end.’  

Ms Boyles’ story found a warm response among the listeners, sparking a lively discussion. At least one young woman from the audience started considering a career in the Lithuanian diplomatic corps.