HSE SPb Day 2019
Are the first weeks of classes already a blur, but you still can't shake off the spell of HSE SPb Day? Let's take a look back on how the campus-wide event went and add the photos of our new university family to our albums.
This year, those who attended the event in Sibur Arena became convinced that HSE is out of this world! Per tradition, HSE first-years were met by interactive stations from student organisations around campus. There were almost 30 zones in the lobby where guests could join in debates, play board games, and fight in an intellectual duel.
In addition to learning about student organisations, event visitors got learn about the wide range of opportunities HSE offers. In the Career Development Centre zone, students were able to browse job openings from HSE partners, get advice from experts of the Centre for Innovative Entrepreneurship on how to find investors for their technology startups, and ask representatives of the Centre for International Cooperation about academic mobility.
Meanwhile, in the main arena of the complex, Elena Omelchenko, the Director of the Centre for Youth Studies and professor of the Department of Sociology, talked to a large crowd about what people born in the 2000s love and are fear. How and when did the idea of generational change arise and who decides what the new generation will be called? What scares and what pleases adults in each new 'young and unfamiliar tribe'? Are we really as different as they say on TV and newspapers? Elena Omelchenko addressed all these questions and gave the audience some food for thought.
The ceremony was opened by Natalia Chicherina, Deputy Director of HSE Campus in St Petersburg, who delivered a welcome speech on behalf of the Campus Director Sergey Kadochnikov. Natalia Chicherina explained why outer space was this year's theme. 'HSE University, our National Research University Higher School of Economics, is becoming more and more like a huge intergalactic spaceship that boldly opens up new environments and spaces, rushing higher and higher towards the stars.'
The vice-governor of St. Petersburg Nikolai Linchenko came to congratulate the first-year students. He envies our students who, when asked 'What is your higher education?', can proudly answer, 'HSE!' 'This is great because HSE is indeed one of the best universities in the city. This is more than six thousand students and graduate students, about 400 teachers, about 100 researchers with academic degrees - master's and doctoral - from leading foreign universities. And all of the teaching staff put their souls and expertise into you. They seek to enrich every one of you. I am sure that they will preserve and support the best traditions of national education, and you will certainly live up to their expectations.'
Yevgeny Antropov, the Director of the head office of the North-West branch of Sberbank, was a special guest of the event. Speaking to students, Yevgeny noted why higher education is so important today: 'It doesn’t matter what you study and which faculty you are enrolled in. The most important thing is that you learn to understand. And, believe me, HSE will teach you to dig deeper.'
For all guests, students prepared a space musical - a guide to the planetary system of HSE University - St. Petersburg. An intergalactic ship for five thousand people visited the planets 'Prom', 'Griboedov', 'Sedov' and 'Kant', and met with partners as well as the Board of Trustees of the university. And most importantly, the first-years were accepted into a large and friendly HSE family!
The day concluded with a concert from the headliner of the evening - the band 'Gradusy'. It was a memorable evening for everyone!
