A Second Home to Leave: What It's Like to Be a Final-Year Student at HSE
The season of graduations will soon be over. For those studying their final year of undergraduate studies at HSE, the spring of 2026 is a time of mixed feelings. On the one hand, there's the long-awaited warmth, gentle breezes, and that special feeling we've been waiting for all winter. On the other, there's the realization that in just a little while, we'll have to say goodbye to a place that, over the past four years, has become not just a university, but a true second home.
Being a final-year student at HSE's St. Petersburg campus is a strange state of being between "I can do anything" and "I'm not ready to let go." In these four years, you've found more than just a profession. You've found a second home. A place where the admissions committee once believed in you, and now you're surprised: how quickly did this time fly by? And then, just when you finally understand how this life works, it says to you, "Our time is up. Go into the adult world."
In your fourth year, familiar things take on a new depth. The last first bell of this status. The last ten-day period. The last sleepless night before the deadline in the company of classmates who have now become almost family. You suddenly begin to notice how beautiful the spring sun shines through the huge windows of the Cultural Center, how wonderful the voices of the students sound in the hallways, how cool it is when you walk in a crowd to the metro after your last class.
You feel sad, but true sadness can only be felt for what was truly important. The state of "me in my fourth year" is a psychological phenomenon.
In the fall, you are an older brother to the freshmen who wander the halls with shining eyes and folders. You condescendingly explain to them where the cafeteria is and how the ranking system works. The first wave of nostalgia hits. You start going to every class in a row – even the ones you could skip.
Then come pre-defenses, term papers, reports. You're both high and low. You're sitting with your classmates, and someone suddenly says, "Guys, next year we won't be taking term papers together." Silence. Someone tries to joke about going to graduate school, someone pretends not to hear. But inside, everyone feels this chill.
Spring comes a time when you start noticing details. How it smells like spring in the old building on the embankment. How the metro sounds at eight in the morning. How slowly life in St. Petersburg flows when you're faced with looming deadlines and all you dream of is getting enough sleep. And then comes the final stretch. You finish your thesis and hardly fear the committee anymore. But you fear something else: the moment when you say "goodbye" forever.
What Graduates Really Cry About
Graduates of HSE St. Petersburg don't cry about A's and honors. They cry about people and rituals. They cry about the fact that they'll no longer gather in a huge auditorium for a lecture. They cry about the fact that there won't be those spontaneous parties after exams, when you rent a loft and dance until the early hours. They cry about the mentors who recently helped them understand how things work, and now they have to let go. They cry about the fact that they'll no longer have that feeling—when you're still a student, with indulgence. You can still make mistakes. You can still not know who you'll become. You can still live in a world where the main problem is deadlines.
HSE St. Petersburg has given you an amazing privilege: four years of growing up in the most beautiful city in the world, surrounded by the smartest and most incredible people. And saying goodbye to this is painful.
5 Tips for St. Petersburg Campus Graduates (Heart to Heart)
- Capture your "skeleton"– who you are now
Take the time to be yourself in this moment. Your senior year is a turning point. You're no longer a "green freshman," but you're not yet an "office worker." You are the ideal version of yourself: hungry for knowledge, bold, and a little naive. Remember this feeling. It will come in very handy when crises arise in adulthood. This inner beacon is your greatest gift from the university.
- Don't cut ties immediately after receiving your diploma
HSE is, first and foremost, about people. Create a shared chat that won't die a month after graduation. Agree to meet at least once a year. Shared projects, startups, creative collaborations – all of this can continue after your bachelor's degree. HSE only ends when you stop communicating. And you can prevent that.
- Make a "memory map."
It sounds pompous, but keep it simple: take a photo of your favorite spot in the library, record a video of the hallway where you always waited for a friend, get coffee from that very same machine that saved your life in your third year. In five years, these "silly photos" will be worth more than any diploma. Reify this time, its ease and warmth, before it's gone.
- Organize a "farewell tour" of your favorite places.
Take the metro, stroll through the buildings, stop by your favorite coffee shop where you drank coffee before an exam. Take a photo with the HSE St. Petersburg sign in the background. Sit on the embankment. Do it consciously. Say goodbye to the university the way people say goodbye. With loved ones – with tears, laughter, and a promise to return.
- Don't close the door to HSE—just take a break.
Most importantly, remember: when you leave, you don't have to leave forever. Modern education isn't a vertical, but a circle. And HSE offers a huge selection of diverse master's programs: from classic economics and law programs to cutting-edge programs in data science, urban studies, creative industries management, and psychology. Admitting to a master's program isn't a "second round"; it's reaching a new level. Returning to familiar walls, but as a different person. With a wealth of experience, and a clear understanding of why you're here. Often, the best master's students are those who took a year or two off to work, missed the academic environment, and returned with new questions. HSE won't go anywhere. The only question is when you'll be ready to meet again.
Graduation at HSE St. Petersburg is an art in itself. White nights, a gentle breeze from the bay, the scent of lilacs and champagne. You stand in your gowns, looking at each other, unable to believe that this is the end.
But here's what I want to tell you. An end is always a new beginning. HSE St. Petersburg has given you three priceless gifts: the habit of critical thinking, self-confidence, and lifelong friends. These cannot be taken away.
Yes, you will no longer open the door at the turnstile at Kantemirovskaya. Yes, you will no longer sleep through your first period. But everything you have absorbed over these four years will remain with you.
You are graduates of the Higher School of Economics. You know how to study, you know how to lose and get up, you know how to work in a team and be responsible for your words. This is enough for a start.
Cry at graduation. Hug. Say "I love you" to those with whom you shared the same classroom for four years. And then – wipe away your tears and step forward.
Shared by
Polina Dorofeeva
