Ha Young Chung on her first year of study at Sociology and Social Informatics Bachelor Program

I can say that the past one year since transferred to the Sociology and Social Informatics Program at HSE is probably the most dynamic and vibrant time in my life.

I had to live alone in a foreign country, adapt to a new environment, make new friends while doing a lot of my studies. However, it seems like I was able to overcome various difficulties by keeping being busy. I had no time to be lonely or bored because I even lacked time to meet my friends, doing all the studies that I needed to do. I was a sociology student, a transfer student, and a foreign student for the past year, and I have learned and experienced many things throughout the year.

As mentioned in the previous article, I was also interested in the sociology department when I first entered university. I was interested in sociology for the first time after the sociology class I had had in my senior year in high school. I wanted to major sociology in the university, but I couldn’t, due to complicated situations. I guess that I was able to catch up with the second-year courses because at least I had learned basic sociology at this time. I had to take the first-year courses as well as the second-year courses because I had transferred to the second year right away. In the beginning, I had some difficulties in the classes. The courses were held in English, but since I only studied with Korean terminology, the terms were unfamiliar, so it was hard to distinguish between the knowledge I knew and the new knowledge. However, I was able to understand the translated terms and concepts by seeking some relevant materials in Korean, and now I became more familiar with the terms in English.

Specialization of Sociology and Social Informatics is a discipline that requires a general understanding of society, and it focuses on courses that can build up basic skills in various fields such as politics, economics, society, culture, and anthropology. In addition to this, we are also Sociology and Social Informatics, so we also needed to take practical courses such as data analysis, statistics, and methodology. I learned how to understand and view society through these various subjects, and I was interested in learning about theories, social phenomena, diverse perspectives, and concepts. I like sociology because I think it helps understand the society in which we live better and consider the matter at a higher level. Furthermore, personally, I was able to learn more about Russia and to better understand Korean society by comparing them. Especially, when I express my opinion during the discussion, I brought many examples of Korea, thus I had the opportunity to study my country better. It’s because it was not easy to convey what I already know to other students, who don’t have any basic knowledge, in English form in a concise and accurate way.

The way of HSE courses is so different from my previous experience when I studied Russian in Korea. We usually listen to lectures passively and be evaluated what we’ve learned through assignments and exams. But in HSE, the professors evaluate the participation level of each class through seminars and workshops apart from lectures and reflect all performances such as assignments, attendance, and quizzes. It was too hard for me to study in such a system. Furthermore, when I majored Russian ‘language’, we had a few group projects, but here we have a team project almost every week. Just like in high school, every class in every course had assignments, and I had to read papers, write summaries and prepare for quizzes. Moreover, they were not easy passive tasks. I had to try to think deeper and critically because my thoughts about reading will be discussed in the seminar. When I wrote my essay, I studied and learned myself by referring to dozens of articles. When I first received my individual curriculum, it was written that I needed to spend some hours for self-study in each subject. At that moment, I was wondering how they will check if each student actually studied or not. However, now I see that we were designed to achieve those hours while doing the assignments, reading papers, and preparing for the exam.

Not only the teaching method but also the whole system was very different. In the process of transfer, the procedure of Russia and South Korea was different, and the administrative procedures for timetable, test, and grade processing were different. The biggest difference with Korea is that individuals cannot make timetables on their own. In Korea, I only heard about some specialized departments such as nursing schools are not allowed to make their own timetables. In HSE, same grade students are divided into groups of 20 to 30 and study according to the same timetable for each group. You have the option of choosing minors and electives, but still, you cannot create individual timetables, it’s fixed by the study office. In Korea, I usually made my timetable with afternoon classes and make one free day. But here I have no other option but to go to the first pair early in the morning and on Saturdays as well. However, I don’t need to struggle to register for the courses to make the time schedule here, so at least this is good. Another surprising point was that all scores were revealed. Fairness and transparency seem to be more important for everyone than respecting individual privacy. In my opinion, it seems so ‘Russian’, that no one thought this to be strange. Still, HSE is the most innovative among Russian universities, since we’re using LMS, online platform where we can check the transcripts and materials. I miss the Korean system a bit, in which we dealt with everything electronically such as attendance and submitting tasks, etc.

Now I have been studying in English, but I also took Russian classes besides the academic studies since I came to Russia to learn Russian. Here I was able to be friends with a lot of exchange students and I could feel and learn something which may be more important things than learning through study. In the past year, I couldn’t pay much attention to the Russian language because I had to do the first-year and the second-year studies simultaneously. However, I met a good teacher and continued to study Russian until the end. Therefore, I could get a certificate for B1 level in TOЕFL. From now on, I would like to focus more on Russian, so that at the time of my graduation, I would like to have a better level than B2, C1.

It was never easy to learn a new discipline in a new language in a totally different system in a new environment. But thanks to the great professors, my coordinator Ekaterina, and other office staffs as well, I was able to deal with complicated problems well and be comfortable with studying and resulted in good grades and lots of learning. Also, thanks to buddy, my classmates, and all other many friends who were willing to help me whenever I had difficulties in adapting to school life as a transfer student, I have been able to get through a lot of team projects and have successfully completed a year of study. Also, thanks to my family who believed in me and supported for every aspect, I finally have come to the end of the day after overcoming any hardships. I feel I have grown a lot because of the knowledge I have taught at school, the relationships I have met here, and the enlightenment gained through those relationships. I am grateful to everyone who had made my past year successful.
                                                                                                                              Text by Ha Young Chung