"I chose my university based in part by the Russian department"

Alexandra Antonova, a junior from the HSE - NES undergraduate program in economics chose to study her third year of bachelor program in a partner university - Dickinson College in Carlisle, a small town in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, with a population of just a bit larger than 20K. Dickinson College students make more than 12% of the town population

Dickinson College mission is to "provide a useful, innovative and interdisciplinary education to prepare students to lead rich and fulfilling lives of engaged global citizenship" for almost 2,400 students representing 38 U.S. states and territories and 49 foreign countries. Since 2017, when Dickinson college and HSE University signed a student exchange agreement for the faculty of economic sciences, students of the Joint HSE NES undergraduate program in economics are invited to partiicpate in one semester long study abroad experience. Fall 2022 was the first in person mobility after the two years break due to pandemic.

Besides taking regular classes Alexandra works on campus as a Teaching assistant for Dickinson College Russian department, providing practice opportunities to the students, studying Russian language. This means living in a "Russian house", spending free time together, eating togehter and doing other things, all this speaking Russian. This provides unique opportunity for students to improve their speaking, and of course for Ms. Antonova to expand her network and socialize, while studying abroad in the US. We asked Alexandra to ask the students, what made them study Russian. They all had their own beautiful reason to offer.

Jemma: "From exposure to ballet at a young age and a desire to become bilingual, I considered Russian a great choice of second language to learn."

Luke: "I am studying Russian to complement my History major, specifically my study of Russian history. "

Helen: "I’ve always been fascinated by Slavic cultures and history, and with my mother’s study of Russian, my interest was furthered, and when my high school offered Russian as a language class, I jumped on it. I chose my university based in part by the Russian department, and I haven’t regretted my choice since."