At the end of October, Joint Student Council held a long-expected event — initiation ceremony for international students. Because of epidemiologic situation, organizers hold a series of events for freshmen groups numbering no more 15-20 people.

International students came to Student Office and got to know about their university, historic and science facts from senior students. Organizers explained to freshmen what they could do in case of different types of problems.

“Thanks to the activities of the Joint Student Council and the Council of Dormitories, our student life if more comfortable and fun. We believe that we will be able to organize both online events and small and big meetings with even more foreign students and develop an international dialogue even more actively”, the member of Joint Student Council Polina Lavrentieva said.

Traditionally, freshmen should rub old wooden accounts and a lamp, and they should not just cross the “doorstep of knowledge” but definitely trip over it.  There is a belief that these actions will help successfully pass semester finals. At the end of event, organizers gave commemorative badges and wished to reach graduation ceremony.

 “The role of the meeting was to introduce us to certain activities that take place within the university. Firstly, it concerned sports activities. We have the possibility to choose the sport we like and then practice it. Either football, handball. Secondly, there is the possibility of obtaining cards facilitating us to move in the bus and the metro. These cards serve as a discount so the price is lowered. And there are also conferences or group meetings to improve our knowledge in several areas of physics and chemistry. In other words, people come together with knowledge they have acquired and then they work  for any project together. Likewise, concerning the exchange of culture, there are organizations allowing students to show their culture through either dances, musical instruments or singing”.

Geordy Ndongo (Congo)

“To be honest, it was great, although we have a difficult situation due to the pandemic. I was so glad when they invited me. I thought that this year there would be nothing at all for the freshmen. It was a good opportunity to talk with the senior students and get to know more about the university and things we can do here”.

Natasha Rikan (Paraguay)

“The talk was interesting. I learned about the university clubs, and some traditions that caught my attention. I felt comfortable there”.  

Pedro Soruco (Bolivia)

“Students talk about some beliefs of the university, like touching some special equipment and explained the clubs and groups of the university. I really enjoyed it. Were I to qualify the participants, I would give them 10/10

Nicholas  Proano (Ecuador)