Get to Know ITMO’s Student Services Office Staff

Elena Borisova, Director

What is your favorite spot in St. Petersburg?
New Holland, especially in the early morning.

Which book should everyone read?
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. 

Best movie of all time?
I can’t choose a particular one, but if I had to choose a TV series it’d be Friends.

What is your dream travel destination and why?
I love Italy: its beaches, pasta, seafood, hospitality, and lovely people.

What is the latest you’ve stayed at the office, and why?
It was in the fall of 2019. We stayed up the entire night making student IDs until 8 am. It was like an entire night of scrapbooking. The aim was to create student IDs for all first-year students before their orientation day. We had to make about 5,000 IDs, glue on the students’ photos, hand-write the information, and sign every single one. There was very little time, many photos, and it was especially hard to match some photos to the students’ names, especially when they would sign the backs of their photos with very common surnames like “Ivanov.” It was a night of true teamwork, and even the First Vice Rector helped us out.  

Arkadia Savchenko, Lead Manager

What is your favorite spot in St. Petersburg?
I really love to walk along the Fontanka River right after leaving the office at Lomonosova St. And once I cross the busy Nevsky Prospekt, I like to spend a few hours at Dom Kino watching a movie, and on the way out – popping by Kofe Na Kukhne, which is especially lovely when it involves discussing the film that we just saw with friends. If I’m alone, then I like to drop into Poryadok Slov and find a book to suit my mood. 

Best movie of all time?
For me, it’s Piter FM. There is no complex or deep meaning within it, no fancy directing techniques or camerawork. But I don’t think I will ever get bored of watching this film about summer in St. Petersburg, filled with love and hope for the best. 

What is your most essential travel tip?
"It doesn't matter how old your sneakers are if they can get you around Paris…" – just kidding. In fact, you should just be open to everything new and accept all failures or planning errors as part of the trip (even if you have to pay for extra baggage because of all the souvenirs you bought).

Strangest question you got from a student?
Once, a student asked me if I knew how much blini (pancakes) with ham and cheese cost at Teremok.

Funniest moment at the Student Services Office?
I really like that the staff at the Student Services Office are one big friendly team. Every day we find reasons to laugh together. We have a lot of in-jokes and memes that only we understand.

And in secret, students' letters are often funnier than you might think. One day, a student sent us a request to make him a certificate to get “ervepe.” We searched for this word for a long time in all the dictionaries known to us, called colleagues in other departments and were about to give up when we realized that it was a clumsily transliterated abbreviation of "RVP" (temporary residence permit). Since then, we have been calling all unknown documents that way!

Danil Semenov, Manager

What is the first app you check in the morning?
The weather, with the hope that it matches what’s actually going on outside. 

What is your favorite spot in St. Petersburg?
I can’t pick just one, but I’ll name three: Ostrovsky Square, Kazan Cathedral and the cafe AIKI Terrasa. How can you pick just one location in this city? 

Best movie of all time?
Ivan Vasilievich Changes His Profession is the first that comes to mind. Here are a few other excellent and not necessarily popular films: Perfect Strangers, The Place, What’s in a Name?

If you could be an expert in any field, what would you choose?
Lepidopterology [the study of butterflies and moths] – we don’t know much about them, or space. Although, to be honest, I’d rather improve my skills and knowledge in those areas in which I already know the basics. 

Strangest question you got from a student?
“How do I get to the Student Services Office?” while they were standing in the office.

Funniest moment at the Student Services Office?
One student came to pick up his documents since he had been expelled. It wasn’t a quiet event: he walked into the office and loudly greeted everyone, stood in the middle of the room and started to tell his life story; then, he started reciting poems and telling jokes. At some point we had to interrupt his artistic monologue and ask him to grab a ticket. He also suggested we arm wrestle. 

Yana Zhivitskaia, Deputy Director

What is your favorite spot in St. Petersburg?
Tsarskoe Selo (Pushkin).

What’s a song you can listen to forever?
Day ‘N’ Night by Kid Cudi.

Which book should everyone read?
The first aid manual.

What is your most essential travel tip?
Always keep some cash in the local currency with you. 

Strangest question you got from a student?
One girl emailed us about transferring to ITMO from another university. The letter included a drawing she had done with the question “Guess who this is a picture of?” It was one of our office managers.

Eugenia Spitcina, Lead Manager

What is the first app you check in the morning?
Telegram.

What is your favorite spot in St. Petersburg?
Kamenny Island.

What’s a song you can listen to forever?
Not exactly forever, but the song I can mostly play on repeat is Natural Blues by Moby.

What is your dream travel destination and why?
Iceland, because of the island’s breathtaking northern nature.

Strangest question you got from a student?
The strangest, or should I say, the most unexpected question that a student asked me is “Where in St. Petersburg can I buy a second-hand edition of Perfume by Patrick Suskind?” I was more than happy to answer. 

Tatiana Salnikova, Manager

What is your favorite spot in St. Petersburg?
The first is Petrogradsky District with its small streets and cozy cafés. The second, of course, are ITMO University’s campuses.

What’s a song you can listen to forever?
Youth by Glass Animals. It reminds me of my first and carefree summer in St. Petersburg :)

Where is your dream travel destination and why?
Chile! I dream to see its incredible diversity of nature, as well as the alpacas, taste the local cuisine and finally practice my Spanish with the locals.

What is your most essential travel tip?
Be flexible and never expect things to go as you planned.

If you could be an expert in any field, what would you choose?
I’d love to become an expert in the theory of generations.

Strangest question you got from a student?
Not from a student, but from his mom during a short phone call:
- What’s the weather like today in St. Petersburg?
- Sunny.
- Good, thank you.