‘I Am Sure That These Events Will Make Next Year More Fun!’

Natsuki Kobayashi (Japan), exchange student from Tokyo University of Foreign Studies

Photo courtesy of Natsuki Kobayashi

The New Year is a time for making plans and adopting new resolutions. We have talked to HSE students and staff members about the events they are most looking forward to in the coming year, 2020, and about their wishes and hopes for the new year.

Panos Kompatsiaris, Assistant Professor at School of Media of Faculty of Communications, Media, and Design

In terms of academic events for media and communication studies, I look forward to the regular big conferences, including the IAMCR in Beijing in July and the ECREA in Braga, Portugal in October, as well countless smaller ones taking place all over the world- of which personally I am more of a fan. In terms of other regular conferences I look forward to, there is the London Conference in Critical Thought (LCCT) in August that takes place every year in London in different universities as well as the conference of the Political Ecology Network (POLLEN) that takes place this year in Brighton in June. 

Last but not least, next year we are launching the Critical Media Studies master’s programme at the School of Media in HSE University, which is the most anticipated event of the year for us. We hope to build a community of students and researchers equipped with original and critical perspectives in our field that will enhance HSE’s learning environment.

Irani Vahhab (Iran), International Preparatory Programmes

What am I looking forward to in the New Year? If you had asked me two months ago, I would have answered ‘travelling’! I would say that I want to go to St. Peterburg, to explore its history and architecture, to Murmansk to see Aurora Borealis, or to Siberia to feel its freeze.

Now, I already understand Russian language better, and have found out that I need to study more in order to improve it.

What am I going to do on the New Year break? I’m going to look for and listen to contemporary Russian popular songs and read simple Russian novels. I am very interested in what makes Russian people happy, sad or loving.

Blair Dunbar, Editor, Expert Translation Centre

As an expat, most of my vacation time is spent traveling back home to the United States, so I’m very excited that, in 2020, I’ll finally have the opportunity to travel more around Europe and the Middle East. I plan to visit Israel and Jordan in February, and I’m also hoping to see Montenegro and Budapest. When I am back home for a few weeks in the summer, I will be taking a trip to visit Portland, Oregon with my best friend who lives in Houston. I can’t wait, because I normally only get to see her once a year.

This is also my first year at HSE University, so I’m excited to keep discovering the university and seeing what my job has in store.

Andres Cuéllar (Colombia), Master’s programme ‘Russian as a Foreign Language in Cross-Linguistic and Cross-Cultural Perspective

A lot of ideas come to my mind now that 2020 is right around the corner. First of all, having the chance to take part in research events is my first and biggest academic expectation. On the other side, I am hoping to write down new stories and explore different narrative styles. Finally, I would like to travel to someplace in the mountains; like the south of Russia or the Altai region

Andrija Dokic (Serbia), International Preparatory Programmes

Back in Serbia, when we talk about our plans, you can often hear this saying: ‘When we are making our plans, God is laughing’. But my plans for 2019 have borne fruit, and today, I’m in Moscow. My first goal in 2020 is to survive the horrible winter that everybody scares me with. It is not that cold yet, but we’ll see what the weather will be like in the coming months.

Next year, I’ll have exams, so my plan is to pass them successfully. I also hope to study in the master’s programme of my choice. When you live in Moscow, it does not mean that people back home will forget about you. Maybe, in May, my parents will come to visit me. They are so looking forward to it! I am eager to visit various Russian cities and discover the hidden beauties of this country. Besides the plans to read more, visit a lot of museums, go to the gym and eat healthy, I would follow Einstein’s advice: ‘Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow’.

Peter Motin (Australia), HSE and University of London Double Degree Undergraduate Programme in Economics

In the year 2020, I hope to finish writing my movie script. I hope to one day create this idea into a full-length movie. I believe when pursuing a goal the main thing is not to give up no matter what difficulties you are presented with. Achieving a goal can be compared to running steam locomotive, which needs fuel to reach its destination. Like the machinists who chop wood or shovel coal to ensure the train keeps running we must also put in hard work and persevere towards the end result. We mustn’t forget that  we have a destination which must be reached and a goal which must be achieved. Support is also very important and I’m glad that I have a good circle of friends at HSE to give me ideas if needed and keep me motivated to continue pursuing my goals.

HSE has a vibrant environment which inspires creativity and networking. Among its many campuses it is possible to meet a lot of interesting people who will help me on my journey to success. In 2020 I will continue being proactive within my university and will utilize every opportunity to meet new people from an array of different backgrounds. I hope my peers and students from other faculties feel this same energy of not only socializing, but also helping and supporting one another. More importantly we must realize we are part of a great community of intellectual individuals and should find it within our strength to give back to this amazing community.

Larruz Jimenez Martha Georgina (Mexico), International Preparatory Programmes

This year I had a lot of positive vibes and, of course, fantastic adventures. I started to study in another country, to learn a new language, to live in beautiful places, to meet fantastic people, to work in places which I loved. It’s time to close this 2019, a year plenty of good moments, and going for a better time for me.

My first New Year’s wish is to get my Russian Language certificate. Naturally, I want to complete successfully the Preparatory Year. It’s not a simple task; I should work hard every lesson and improve myself. It’s really a great challenge for me. Related with my first wish, I really hope to be accepted to the master’s programme, which I’ll choose very soon. It’s a life decision, for sure, but… the sky's the limit. 

Finally, my third wish is to travel across Russia. It’s a fantastic place, with an awesome culture and interesting history.

I wish everyone to achieve their goals. Happy New Year 2020!

Pham Hoang Ngoc Quynh (Vietnam), Bachelor’s programme in Media Communications

I created a personal channel on Youtube showing my life experiences at the end of 2019 in which definitely there is studying in HSE in particular and living in Russia in general. So I hope in 2020, I can develop my channel by improving video quality and creating more interesting contents. Moreover, I hope that I can have some chances to discover other unique parts of Russia in order to introduce them not only to people back in my home country but also people around the world. In 2020, I’m going to look for an exchange opportunity as well because I really love discovering different cultures. Since I also have a huge interest in many other countries like Korea, UK or Brazil beside Russia, I want to spend a short period of time studying in one of these countries.

As a member of Vietnamese Students Association in HSE, I expect that in 2020, we can create a bigger and more exciting event than we did last year which is a Vietnamese Culture Party. This is an event where we introduce our country’s culture to all the members of HSE. It’s also a great opportunity for Vietnamese students of our association to meet students from other countries.

HSE DAY is one of the biggest HSE events that I am always looking forward to every year. There are a lot of exciting outdoor activities during the day and a huge concert in the evening, which is so awesome. Can’t wait for the next HSE Day! 

Last but not least, I’m looking forward to having a chance to participate in some of the events which are related to music because of my huge love for music, especially singing, dancing and playing music instruments. Of course, events created by HSE will be great.

Alejandra Vargas (Bolivia), International Preparatory Programmes

This is going to be the first year I'm away from my family and my close friends. I have never missed their company as much as this upcoming holiday. Being able to be by myself is kind of scary, but at the same time, I start to realize that this is part of growing up, learn to love our own company and being able to open ourselves to other people to new experiences and accept them is part of it.

This year I aspire to be thankful for the new people and experiences that I have gained over this year. Being able to learn different things from other cultures is extremely important, but do it in their own country is awesome. There's one thing I wish could be different and that's to have my dog next to me.

Natsuki Kobayashi (Japan), exchange student from Tokyo University of Foreign Studies

I am studying at HSE from this September. My major is Russian studies. First of all, in the upcoming year I have to study Russian language much harder, because my main purpose of this studying abroad is to learn Russian language and literally, we cannot live here without the RUSSIAN!

Secondly, Japanese anime festival will be held in Moscow in May. Now, I am participating in this project with HSE students and soon we will begin to translate anime from Japanese to Russian. It will be hard task but surely it will help me to improve my Russian skills!

Finally, I am really looking forward to traveling in Russia! Russia is such a huge and beautiful country! I want to see what is Russia with my own eyes. I am sure that these events will make the next year more fun!

Huang Guohao (China), International Preparatory Programmes

I’ve been studying in Moscow for nearly three months now and the coming new year makes life here even more exciting. My new year wish list for 2020 is pretty simple. I wish that I will finish my prep year with a satisfying result and start my bachelor’s degree in HSE, so that I can officially become a member of this excellent community.

Also I like music and I write songs from time to time so I hope that I’ll get more inspiration and be able to create more amazing projects in the next year.

All in all, I hope that my 2020 will be just awesome. I’ll take action and go all out to attain my goals in 2020 and wish everyone will either fulfill or get closer to their dreams!