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There’s nothing more relaxing than to forget everything you need to do and escape the city for some days. There are some people that say that they do not like going out to the woods and staying away from the city and all its amenities, but I frankly cannot imagine that they are saying that for real, or at least I think they’ve just never gotten the proper experience.
Some time ago, when I was still in school, I used to think that being at university means that you just need to learn a lot of stuff, attend all your lectures and tutorials and do a lot of homework; and for the most part I was right. But there’s one big part that I omitted, and that is that in one way or another you need to get involved, be a little more proactive. I don’t mean that you have to attend all of the events from the university, nobody does that, it’s impossible to attend them all, not only because you need time for your usual academic work, but because everybody also has a life, however you will have to get involved in some university that probably doesn’t have much to do with your minor or major, but will have an impact on your academic development.
There’s one thing that unites every student that studies abroad or away from their city of origin, and that’s the dormitory. Even though the dormitory’s sole purpose is for students from other cities and countries to have a place to live while they study, it becomes more than a second home for those students. The dormitory often becomes the center of small parties and reunions of friends, and new people, sometimes you even get to know people that are not part of the university. Of course, big parties won’t work, not only because of the dormitory rules, but also because it becomes uncomfortable to party hard in the small dormitory room while trying not to annoy the neighbors.
A new year has begun, and with it another semester. My first semester has been quite an adventure, and I have no doubt that this new semester will be no less interesting than the one that is already behind me. The past two months have been interesting but really busy. In this post, I’ll explain why new year is different for students than for other people.
The campus is not the only place where university life takes part, there are lots of university activities outside the campus. Being a university student means not only having to go to lectures, doing lots of homework and research, it is also a lot of interesting things to do with other students, doesn’t matter if they are from another group, another generation or another faculty, the thing that matters is that they are part of the same university as you.
Saint Petersburg, the city of winds, the northern Venice or call it as you may, is a city that is full of wonders and places to discover. Your innate curiosity will be awakened by the vast variety of socio-culturalism and all the touristic attractions it is very well known for. Starting from the architectural design the city holds, embracing hints of baroque, renaissance, modernism and still tightly embracing hints of communism, whispering millions of decades of history while you walk on its streets and offering a wide cultural entertainment.
Winter is already knocking on Saint Petersburg’s doors with snow already falling out in the streets with autumn on its way out taking with it the first half of the semester. It seems as though just yesterday I was enjoying the free summer time. However, we all know that time doesn’t stop, and eventually everything comes to an end, giving way for other things to come. Those things in this case are the mid-semester tests, or how they are called here, "control work". Everybody’s busy studying for the tests, hurrying to give to their professors pending homework and laboratory works, otherwise they will be left as a "debt" you must settle before the end of the semester.
I remember the first time I went on a trip abroad, to Europe, with my family. It was also the first time I visited Saint Petersburg and since then I have been in love with the city. Now, almost ten years later, not only have I come back to what was my childhood dream city, the city which I remembered so fondly and yearned to come back to, but now it’s also my new home, the place where I live and study.
Do you remember the first time you gave a speech at a conference? I am sure that every young scientist has a story related to such an exciting experience. Here is what happened to me when I successfully presented my research at an international conference despite losing my formal trousers.
