— It was a warm, autumn morning after a 14 hour long train ride from Novomoskovsk, when I first set foot on the land of Samara. My very first experience of Samara State Technical University was at the main building where I handed in my documents. It looked much better than it did when I liked it up on the internet, a beautiful, bright white, multi-storey building. In the office for international students, I was very surprised to meet people who spoke very good English. They are all very kind and helpful. Each time I enter the room they are always happy to see me. After we got my documents sorted out, one young lady from the office at the time kindly offered to drive us to my hostel in her own car, luggage and all!
I’ve made very good friends in the group and I am yet to make more. All my group-mates are intrigued and ask me questions about Africa and my country Botswana and how it’s like. I still do my best to answer all their questions. It would be nice if they could visit and tour the natural beauty of Botswana.
Every semester for three semesters, I attended English language conferences which I enjoyed very much. There is a wide variety of presentations by many bright students with a passion for learning and speaking English. It was also very interesting to listen to and learn from them, as well as from the special guests. In one of the conferences the special guest was a man from America. He made an interesting presentation about Education in America. In the last conference I attended the guest of honour was a Taiwanese lady who gave us an informative about the interesting aspects of the culture of Taiwan. These conferences were a great opportunity to talk about my country. I talked much about the education, engineering and about the culture of Botswana.
One of the greatest attractions in Samara is the Volga River. I remember learning about the Volga in geography class at school. It’s pretty amazing to actually see it live and have the opportunity to visit it regularly.
If you are planning to be a foreign student in SSTU my advice to you would be to study very hard and use this opportunity to learn something new. Do your best to try to understand what is being taught and how it can help you in future. It is easier to be motivated to study and finish projects on time if you know why you are doing it.
I am really happy to be studying in Samara State technical University. It is I wonderful experience I may even share with my grandchildren. I’m sure many other foreign students like me would want to experience this and so I urge them to enroll!
Read full Ompatile's story about living in Samara