‘HSE University Became a Refuge for Me’
Choosing a profession is hard, and not everyone can do it straight away. Such was the case with Taş Elif Esra, an exchange student who came to HSE University from Turkey. Esra started her education in translation studies before finding her passion in sociology. Find out why she decided to change her major and what motivated her to take part in the mobility programme in this interview.
— Why did you decide to take part in the mobility programme and come to HSE University-St Petersburg?
— I did not want to graduate without seeing another university’s structure and another country.
When I graduated high school five years ago, I already knew that I wanted to come to Russia and to HSE University in particular. I was pretty sure about this choice because of my academic interests: I wanted to study relations between Turkey and Russia. When I started studying at my home university, there were no agreements between any Russian universities and mine—Boğaziçi University. The very year I started my studies, HSE University and Boğaziçi University entered into an agreement. That is when I thought: ‘Okay, this is a sign, I’m definitely going to Russia.’ The two factors were my academic interests and luck.
— What did you study at your home university? What was your major?
— In general, my department is Sociology. But it is quite different from what HSE University offers in this sphere. Here, it is more about social informatics and data science. My university deals with sociology and anthropology. But I really wanted to study data science, as I’m more interested in that.
I am also as interested in political science as I am in sociology. I studied post-Soviet countries in the global political context and the Middle East. But there were not enough courses focused on Russia. One of the reasons that I came here was to fill this gap, to take more subjects on Russia and its position in the global context.
— Why did you choose sociology as your specialisation in the first place?
— When I started university, I was studying not sociology, but translation. When I first took the course ‘Introduction to Sociology’, I was literally in love. It was mind-blowing. I told myself: ‘This is what I have to do in life.’ In this introductory class, they showed us how people tend to perceive the world from a very individualistic point of view. For example, if you are unemployed, you think: ‘Well, I am unemployed and this is my problem.’ But actually, most problems are structural. If you are unemployed, that is probably because there is an unemployment problem in your country. This is just one example. I realised how big of a sphere it was and how important it was to understand the way society works in this whole system. In the end, my goal is to do some good, and sociology helps me to understand that I can really make a change.
— What are your impressions of HSE University, your classes, and your professors?
— When I came here, I spoke very little Russian. That is why I was quite afraid of how my trip would go. HSE University became a refuge for me in terms of language. The first time I went to the cafeteria, I did not know how to order food—I was very stressed because of it. I simply turned to my right, saw a student and asked them for help. And that person helped me without hesitation. That’s how HSE University made my life much easier in terms of language. I was able to build friendships and learn a lot.
Other than that, I found out that Russian people are a bit shy. I am from Turkey—we smile at each other in the streets. Here, people just save their smiles for their loved ones. They are not used to coming up and starting a conversation with you. But at HSE University, when people learnt that I was a foreigner, they would come up to me and start talking to me. So it was easier for me to make friends. I’d say that HSE students are not as shy as Russians in general.
I was very excited to come here and take courses in Political Science. I wanted to see the Russian perspective on topics that we always have debates about. It’s not common to be able to get an idea of how Russians look at these topics when you are outside of Russia, particularly if you are a student at a very Europe-centric university like mine. So in that sense, I was quite impressed. I loved working with Russian professors as well. All of them have very strong and different backgrounds as they have studied in Europe and different parts of Russia.
— Are the study processes in Russia and Turkey different?
— One thing that really shocked me at HSE University is the division of classes into lectures and seminars. We do not have this system at any Turkish universities. We have lectures, during which we also discuss questions like students do here during seminars. We don’t have separate lectures and seminars or anything like that, but just a class as a whole. Other than that, in terms of education quality, the study processes are pretty similar. However, HSE University demands a lot. It requires small work every week—home assignments, constant presentations and so on. It is a very demanding university.
— What do you think about St Petersburg as a city?
— It is very beautiful! I’m from Istanbul, which is also a very beautiful city—I love it. However, in St Petersburg, I actually did not miss Istanbul as a city. I was very surprised, because I had assumed that would happen. St Petersburg has wonderful architecture and it offers a lot of cultural and social activities. So it did not make me miss Istanbul, and that is a big statement.
As for my favourite place here, there is a corner on Nevsky Prospekt near the ‘House of Books’. It is my favourite spot, but not because of the ‘House of Books’ itself. When you stand there, you have Kazan Cathedral on your right and the Church of the Saviour on Blood on your left. Those are my two favourite attractions, and you can see both of them from that spot.
— Did you learn anything new about Russia in general, its people and its culture?
— Reading Dostoevsky and other influential Russian authors, you get this idea that Russians love suffering and being depressed. I had assumed that it was just an exaggeration. When I came here, I realised two things: one is that Russians really do love suffering, and the other is that they have reasons to suffer. Living up in the north, you have to deal with harsh winters. I came here in the first week of January. I couldn’t believe what I saw: it was 10 am, and there was no sun; 4 pm—no sun as well. There was no sun! It was very cold—about 15 degrees below zero. I was shocked. How do you survive here? But now, in summer, there is too much sun. Even at night, it doesn’t get completely dark. How am I supposed to sleep? Now I understand why people think that Russians are very extreme—they live in an extreme environment.
— Do you have any advice for those who want to go on a mobility programme here?
— I would say that you should take very warm clothes if you come in winter. Be ready for too little and too much sun. Prepare to enjoy the cold and the canals!
One really major piece of advice would be to learn some Russian before you come here. You should at least know how to order food—it’s very important.