Students without borders
International Day of Friendship, proclaimed by the UN General Assembly, is celebrated on July 30 for the sixth consecutive year. The holiday aiming to remove borders between the representatives of different nationalities and religions is also relevant for Uzhhorod National University.
Thus, at the beginning of 2018, there were more than 14.5 thousand students studying at UzhNU including more than 700 citizens of other countries. Most foreigners come from India (over 550), however, the number of countries where UzhNU students come from is getting higher every year. Zimbabweans, Nigerians, Bangladeshis, Egyptians, and representatives of other exotic countries choose UzhNU as their alma mater.
The university provides foreign students with appropriate conditions to help them integrate into a new environment. A doctor is the most popular profession among foreigners, therefore in 2016, UzhNU established a Medical Faculty # 2 with training in the English language, which celebrated its 2nd anniversary in July.
Foreign students actively participate in all activities and events organized at the university, including the most popular entertaining events at UzhNU - beauty pageants. Thus, in 2015, Navrul Kaur Dillon from India won the title of "Miss Medical Faculty". The good tradition was borrowed by Medical Faculty # 2, where they held a beauty contest among female foreign students this year. As you know, Eke Chidinmu Jane from Nigeria, the winner of that contest, won the title of the II Vice-miss of UzhNU 2018. Actually Eke told "Pohlyad": "While preparing for the contest, I almost didn’t feel the language barrier. Although I just finished the first year, I already understand Ukrainian and Russian well. Moreover, most participants and organizers spoke English." It took her about a month to get used to living in Uzhhorod (thanks to online translator and maps). The African beauty admits that she is interested in communicating with Ukrainians, so she’s trying to learn the language.
Young people from different countries get united with the help of sports. The efforts of the international indoor football team of UzhNU were highly praised at the All-Ukrainian tournament dedicated to the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. The guys brought a bronze medal from Kyiv. It should be mentioned that in 2019 such competitions will be held at our university. The participant of the tournament, a student from Lebanon, Mohammed El Feyturi, who finished the 5th year of Medical Faculty # 2 this year, shared his impressions: "The competition was a great experience for me. I’m planning to play in the next season if I have an opportunity. My friends and I are trying to do our best and even more to bring a trophy to our university. I have very good relations with Ukrainian students, and all the members of our football team have already become friends. I like Uzhhorod and its citizens."
Another significant success was a piece of music, created by an international team, which included representatives of Uzhhorod University. This is a song video “Angels can’t fly”, which has about 90,000 views on Youtube (published on February 23, 2018). The singers are students of Medical Faculty #2 Gabriel Anaman (Mr.Awesome) from Zimbabwe and Fatima Shifna (Shifna) from the Maldives. Our ex-student of the Faculty of Medicine Arun Mohan directed and shot the video. Actors were Yulia Bezhynets and Christina Shchubelka.
We are pleased to observe tolerant attitude to young people with an exotic appearance in Uzhhorod. The Department for Youth and Sports of the Transcarpathian Regional State Administration and some civic organizations are hosting the 3rd International Youth Festival “Beauty Around Me” in September.
Olga Braylyan "Poglyad"
