Becoming an Ambassador of HSE University-St Petersburg

‘HSE — Saint Petersburg International Ambassadors’ is a project where HSE University students work with the International Office to promote the university amongst prospective applicants. This competitive selective project is aimed at improving students' communication, leadership ability, and creative skills.

HSE University—Saint Petersburg

The project is open to the students of HSE University-St Petersburg, both of Bachelor’s and Master’s programmes starting from their second year of study. The selected applicants receive training on ethics, public speaking and organisation and can choose between two tracks of the projects in which they want to serve. The tracks are events and media.

The ambassadors that chose the event track hold webinars, visit schools in their countries during holidays, and in some cases, participate in the webinars for prospective students held by the International Office. Ambassadors on the media track write articles for the university website, make videos and run the campus social media pages. It is possible to participate in both tracks and fulfil both responsibilities.

We talked to some of the former and current ambassadors who shared their thoughts about the projects and gained experience.

Aleksiya Eryomina, Ambassador of 2022/23 academic year

During my university days, international applicants often reached out to me. They wanted to know about exams, document preparation, and whether I enjoyed studying here. In my first year, I even managed a YouTube channel (available in Russian only) where I shared insights on life at HSE University-St Petersburg.

Within the project, I wrote posts for ‘HSE Saint Petersburg International’ (a Telegram channel for international applicants) which allowed me to deepen my understanding of the university's history and enhance my copywriting skills. Engaging with the university administration and other ambassadors was truly fascinating. Looking back, I wish I had found time for more projects amidst all the studying and work. Now, I really want to keep my video blog going for prospective students!

Rakhmetulla Ongarbaev, Ambassador for several years

I wanted applicants from my country to learn about our university and have the opportunity to try their hand at enrolling in state-funded places or get good tuition discounts. It was important for me because in my case, I found out about HSE University only a couple of months before the deadline for submitting documents and thus missed such an opportunity—but I still managed to get a discount of 25%.

My expectations from the project, which consisted of improving public speaking skills and increasing the awareness of the university, were fully justified. I am proud and glad that the presentation of our university will open the doors to new opportunities for some of the students at the schools we visited, perhaps even for most of them.

We visited schools in Uzbekistan and talked about the programmes of our university, opportunities, various extracurricular and scientific activities, accompanied by a presentation with slides. At the end of the presentation, we conducted a quiz for the audience in which we raffled off prizes—merchandise of HSE University-St Petersburg.

To HSE international students, I recommend participating in this project since it is a great opportunity to travel to your country and improve your knowledge and skills as well as influence the awareness of HSE University. As for future ambassadors, I would like to encourage them not to be afraid to speak in public and try to share as much as they can about life at the university based on their own experience because, in my opinion, it will be very exciting for applicants to learn about the experience of their compatriots.

Ilyas Sadykov, Ambassador of 2022/23 academic year

In 2018, I won HSE International Olympiad. After winning, I decided to study at HSE University-St Petersburg. I didn't know anything about the university until I received a letter from the admission committee. I am so grateful to my classmates from my lyceum in Tashkent for telling me about the Olympiad. I became an ambassador for the 2022/23 academic year to promote education in Russia, specifically at HSE University-St Petersburg, influenced by my lack of knowledge about the university during my admission. My goal was to let my compatriots learn about this opportunity.

I visited 13 schools in Tashkent, including my lyceum and the KRSH ART design studio. I kept in touch with these schools and discovered that 22 students who won the HSE International Olympiad would join the bachelor's programme this year. This experience improved my public speaking skills. I conducted presentations, quizzes, and personal conversations with students interested in joining our university. I encouraged everyone to pursue their goals, emphasising the importance of willpower, networking, and continuous learning.

University is a key place for networking, and maintaining relationships with teachers, classmates, and mentors is crucial. Every subject is valuable in the learning process, so never hesitate to ask questions and strive to have a broad knowledge base.

Akabueze Daniel Onyekachukwu, Ambassadors of 2023/24 academic year

My decision to participate in the project was influenced by my career passion of being a diplomat. The title ‘International Ambassador’ resonated with my long-term goal. I was supposed to be able to speak for an audience —and I am, so to speak, an introvert, so I was hoping to improve that.

During our training, I realised that the media track would be immensely important because I am also a writer, and I have written a few articles for the university magazine. So, I decided to participate in both tracks: media and events. In my opinion, the major improvements for me are in the article writing skills because the project allowed me to have feedback from the university staff and I had to do a lot of editing. At first, I hated the editing part, but with time, I began to like it, and that has improved my skills as well. While the exam period is still on, I have not been able to travel for the event part much, but I have organised online seminars for applicants from Nigeria who are interested in HSE University-St Petersburg.

I would encourage prospective students to apply and participate in the projects. It is flexible, and there is so much to learn.

The application for ‘HSE — Saint Petersburg International Ambassadors’ project opens every academic year, and every HSE University-St Petersburg international student is encouraged to apply, as it is an opportunity to improve leadership skills as well as meet other international students.

Text prepared by Akabueze Daniel Onyekachukwu