"Overcoming Borders: How Studying International Relations Led to Success in the Master's Degree in Global Economy." Second-year student Yulia Tolmacheva shares her impressions.
Interview with second-year student Yulia Tolmacheva
Yulia, why did you decide to apply to the Global Economy program?
I graduated from the RSUH with a bachelor's degree in International Relations and, like many students, I wanted to expand my competencies in the field of economics, especially since my program profile was called «International Business». To be honest, I didn't consider HSE at first because I always thought that the points for admission to the budget there were very high, but I still decided to take a chance. As it usually happens, chance decides everything! A classmate recommended our Global Economy program to me. I am very grateful to her. The risk was absolutely justified! The topic of my Bachelor's thesis was related to the global economic crisis of 2008-2009, and in the Master's program, A.A. Kurdin teaches a separate course dedicated to changes after the Great Recession. This became the determining factor in my choice. In the end, I submitted documents only to the HSE for the Global Economy program.
What difficulties did you encounter during your studies?
Of course, students who study international relations do not use mathematical methods of analysis, so I was worried about whether I would be able to master the construction of regression models, cluster analysis, etc. Even before admission, when choosing a track, I watched videos of students where they talked about "International Finance". Interestingly, during the interview, the student noted several times that the studies here are quite intense and difficult, especially for a person who has not previously received an economic education, but I still decided that I would study only finance.
The studies required a lot of effort, patience and concentration. At first, it was quite difficult, but I was very lucky with my classmates, some of whom became close friends of mine. I spent a lot of time not only on independent study, but also asked the questions, especially on Econometrics, Corporate Finance and working in R, and they patiently explained the features to me. Without their support, it would have been much more difficult!
Which subject was the most difficult for you?
Probably the most difficult subjects for me were Econometrics and Regulation and Supervision of Financial Markets (in English). While Econometrics required patience and math, Financial Markets was taught in English, which made the task more difficult. Nevertheless, I wrote the exam with 8 points, so I was very happy!
How do you apply the knowledge you gained during your studies in practice?
I have a rather unusual work experience for an economist. During my studies, I worked for 2 years in the field of delegate management at the Roscongress Foundation, which is the operator of the SPIEF, EEF, Russian Energy Week (REW), BRICS summits and other major government forums with international participation, and went on business trips. I worked with representatives of Russian business and was involved in the full cycle of support for high-level events: from receiving an invitation to the forum to providing closing documents, I was the contact person for delegations from the Foundation. I was also involved in compiling start lists for events. In particular, I analyzed major ratings (RBC 500, Forbes) and selected the largest companies around the world that might be interested in participating or becoming partners.
One of the most memorable moments for me was working in the Plenary Session Hall with the participation of the President of the Russian Federation. I accompanied VIP guests and was engaged in seating in the hall according to diplomatic etiquette and protocol at SPIEF-2024, REW, etc.
Not long ago, I started working in the protocol of the President of the Fuel Division of the State Corporation «Rosatom». My responsibilities include preparing business trips of the head of the division to the representative cities of Rosatom, collecting and compiling the necessary materials to analyze the work of our enterprises throughout Russia, selecting logistics for the delegation and a cultural program. During my work, I also interact with the Vice President for Economic Activities Block to collect analytical notes, reports and business plans, as well as with regional administrations.
In my work attention to detail, clarity, the ability to work in multitasking mode, initiative, understanding of the international environment are highly valued, which is what HSE teaches its students. In addition, it is important to have a broad outlook, to know not only diplomatic etiquette and protocol, but also the economic context when preparing reports for visits to the regions, cultural characteristics in different countries, and to be able to negotiate with different people.
It is interesting that my supervisor at Roscongress also graduated from HSE, so when we met at REW-2023, we quickly made contact thanks to our shared impressions of studying. In general, many of my friends know that studying economics at HSE is quite difficult, so they respect our students for this.
You said that your classmates were responsive, how was communication in general built during the stream?
Yes, that's right. After admission, my classmates and I spent time together quite often. Our first meeting took place in Gorky Park, we took blankets with us and told interesting facts about ourselves. Even then, I realized that there were a lot of interesting people in our group from completely different directions. They were all very smart and motivated, and there was no tough competition, because everyone was developing in their own direction. With some of the them, we became close friends and supported each other during these 2 years, went on mini-trips. Also, as the organizer of the REW in 2023 and 2024, I had invitations to the Bolshoi Theater and the State Kremlin Palace, so we went together to the cultural program of our Forums.
Were there any difficulties with defending your Master's thesis, as you had not previously studied mathematical methods of analysis?
It is one of the most memorable events for me. I got 9 out of 10 points! The topic was quite complex: "The Impact of Capital Control on Macroeconomic Stability after the 2008-2009 Crisis". In the 1st and 2nd years of my master's degree, I chose strong scientific supervisors who were macroeconomists. I wrote my diploma under the supervision of Dmitry Vladimirovich Skripnik, and the reviewer was Alexander Andreevich Zaitsev, with whom I wrote my coursework. Both teachers taught disciplines on our "International Finance" track, so the choice fell on them, although the requirements were quite high. By the end of the 2nd year, I had already learned a lot. I think it was worth the risk and everything turned out great, I am definitely happy with the result! The main thing is patience and effort, then the sea tugged at his knees!