Muhammad Ali Shahad, known as Ali, is a typical young Pakistani, who grew up in Peshawar and also spent a number of years in Islamabad. It was his dream to visit Russia, as a child he saw a movie which showed scenes of Russian cities and heard the fascinating Russian accent.
Ali completed his Bachelor’s in Bioinformatics, and soon after he started his own software company. After his business partner left, and with pressure from his friends and family, he felt that it was time to do his Masters, but he started the search a little late. All European and U.S. Universities had closed their admissions, and opportunities for scholarships were no longer existent, and he was stuck. From London to Novosibirsk he searched, but to no avail. Eventually things were really looking grim, he’d already quit his job and it seemed there were no opportunities before him, fees were too high, due dates had passed, it was a challenging time.
Then suddenly during his search on the online Masters portal, he came across ITMO University’s English language double degree Master’s program on Big Data and Extreme Computing, which appeared like an “angel from heaven”. He was able to arrange everything, and although it took some time with all the paperwork and arranging the visa, he got to St. Petersburg around mid-November.
“When I told my father I’m going to Russia, he told me “It’s your life but one thing you should know, my son, as a cautious guy, who’s getting older and wanting to earn your own money, you won’t be able to find a part time job in Russia.”” “My father told me he saw a video of the President filling up the gas at the station himself!” explained Ali.
With these thoughts in mind and a little bit of trepidation, he set off on his journey to the great unknown. Two kind-hearted students from the second year of his Master’s program picked him up from the airport and they’re now his best friends here. “It was -7 degrees when I arrived and I was in a thin jacket… one thing I’ve learned is that the weather here is unpredictable”
About the people, Ali says, “they are so nice, I wanted to ask someone on the street for directions, and people are rushing here and there but when you ask them they stop and they walk with you to show you where to go.” Whatever myths you’ve heard about this country, he explained, it’s not like that at all, “don’t believe what people say and what the media says, I know how it feels because of how the media has portrayed my country. I have respect for Russia, so I don’t want the media to show a negative portrait.”
“There are a lot of myths about Russia,” he adds, “but I’m the type of person who has to see things with my own eyes…. one day, I was walking home and I saw a very drunk guy walking with a bottle in his hand, and then I saw him throw the bottle into a dust bin, even though he was totally drunk, he still had some sense.”
With his eyes lit up, Ali began to describe the food: “Food here is cheap! Macdonalds is really cheap, in Pakistan a big mac is about 300-400 rubles, but here it’s only 130 rubles! I told all my friends back in Pakistan and they were astonished.”
Ali loves the city, and loves taking pictures, you can check out his instagram account. He took a picture of the famous neoclassical triumphal arc in Saint Petersburg “Moscow Triumphal Gate”, which his friends mistook for the Brandenburg gate in Berlin. He also loves making friends here and his advice for anyone thinking of coming is to make as many friends as possible. If you want to learn the Russian language, it’s best to learn by making lots of friends. Ali is particularly lucky because knowing the Pashto languages helps him to have a better accent in Russian. Before coming, they used to laugh about the word “khorosho” in Russian, which means “good”, in Pashto it means “the king’s donkey”. And “how are you” (“Kak vashe della?”) sounds very similar to “the bed is broken”. But generally, he says that everyone understands English here and he can get by just fine.
About his studies, he says he loves it and he’s learning a lot, but it’s also very challenging. His research is on Dynamic 4D genome visualization. Right now they are studying the tools which are used to analyse the genome and then will consider how to design and create new and more effective tools for 4D visualization. The important thing with doing your Masters is that you need to be organized, schedule your time well and don’t leave everything to the last minute.
He says it’s not difficult to find a job here, especially if you have programming or web development skills. He is enjoying his studies a lot, as well as all aspects of his life here, “I have classes on Monday and Friday, the rest of the time I work as a freelancer, I’m still searching for a job, I’ve got some interviews, I plan to go for an internship in the Netherlands.”
If you want to ask Ali any questions about his experience at ITMO, you can write to him on facebook or instagram.
