International Student of the Year

14:13, December 24, 2021

The "Ural Federal University Student of the Year - 2021" award ended on the evening of December 21

Shokhin Azimov became Ural Federal University's International Student of the Year 2021. Shokhin is from Tajikistan. He is a second-year student of the Department of International Relations at the UrFU Ural Institute of Humanities.

"The bigger the events in which I participate, the more I want to achieve in life," notes Shokhin.

Shokhin's project is called ANFY (Adaptation and Navigation of Foreigners in Ekatenburg). The project focuses on improving the process of adaptation of international students at the university and in Ekaterinburg. The project is based on the results of a survey of international students and contains the most useful and important information. In addition, the project is to promote the Russian language and culture.

"International students, of course, at first it is not easy in a foreign country, especially if they do not know another language. I would like to tell all international students to be active and take part in everything that happens at the university. After all, UrFU is a place of opportunity. All that matters is to study well, be yourself, don't be shy and move forward," comments Shokhin.

The other nominees in the "International Student of the Year" category were four international students who came from different parts of the world.

Saadallah Osman, a second-year Engineering School of Information Technologies, Telecommunications and Control Systems student, came from Iraq.

"Participating in Student of the Year - is a dream of mine. In two years and a little bit I have made a big step forward - from the moment I arrived and knew four words in Russian, to now, when I start to implement my projects at UrFU," says Saadallah.

Aikokul Talantbekova, a fourth-year student from Kyrgyzstan studying at the Ural Institute of Humanities.

"For me, Student of the Year - is a great opportunity to be surrounded by the awesome students of the university and gain valuable experience," comments Aikokul.

Vanessa Guerrero, a third-year student at Ural Institute of Humanities, came to Ekaterinburg from Colombia.

"I decided to participate in the award because it is a personal challenge for me.  It seems to me that the adaptation of foreigners does not end at any particular time, it is a process, and I am still in it. It's not easy, of course, but the main thing is to enjoy the process," Vanessa shares her experience.

Abdul Basit Ahmadzai, a 3rd year Engineering School of Information Technologies, Telecommunications and Control Systems student from Afagnistan, Turkey.

"I know a lot of international students who I've managed to help in these three years, and they advised me to enter the award competition. They said, that you do so much for UrFU, you deserve to participate in the competition and we will support you. I would like to advise foreign applicants to be more attentive and learn Russian. Otherwise, there will be a lot of difficulties, and it will be difficult to deal with them in the future," says Abdul Basit Ahmadzai.