Russia, great place to study and enjoy life

Why I decided to go along with a higher education in Russia is quite understandable

An Indonesian student of the Master's programme "Socio-economic and Political Development of Modern Asia" Ratya Permatasari expressed her motivation.

Work, work, work, work, work… It’s Rihanna song, everyone knows it. Yes, I was working when I had opportunity to apply scholarship in Russian university. I was busy at that time and thanks to my brother who told me this opportunity. Now I am an international student at HSE.

Unlike others, I put Russia at the first destination country to study. There are four points that encourage me to study in Russia.

1.      Russia’s capital city, Moscow

The chosen university is located in Moscow. As a student who has limited skills in Russian language, center is the best place to live.

2.      Educational and entertaining place at the same time

Russia provides a lot of sites to visit to learn from the past to present. It has many buildings from Soviet era to Russian present, from historical monuments to modern ones. The parks and gardens also have their past stories. History is not my main interest but this country’s transformation (especially rapidly changing city such as Moscow) attracts me to learn its development. Well, I could say that everywhere in Russia has its meaning.

3.      Reasonable living expenses

My brother has studied in Russia for three years. Though he studied outside Moscow, at least he knew much more than me. He helped me to calculate the cost that I will spend for each month. The living cost in Russia is a little bit higher than in Indonesia but it is quite considerable. Indeed, it depends on your lifestyle.

4.      Get beyond my comfort zone

Always being in comfortable place is not challenging. It is the time to live far away from my comfort zone, the time to feel the true independent and insist myself to face all realities. I was told that once you pass living in Russia, you will survive in other countries.
Russia has its leading universities such as Moscow State University, Moscow State Institute of International Relations, Saint Petersburg State University, and Higher School of Economics. But why I applied for Higher School of Economics?

Despite of many facts and figures as you may find here, Higher School of Economics, shortly called HSE, provides English taught Master’s program for my chosen field. I had no idea if I followed program in Russian language since I didn’t join preparatory year.
As an Indonesian and having an educational background in International Relations, I applied for a program of Socioeconomic and Political Development of Modern Asia. By following these courses, I expect that I could improve knowledge in specific area of study “Asian studies”.
If I may describe my program, I would better say “from knowing to better understanding” rather than “from nothing to something”. Over the last six months, I obtain much knowledge about East Asia in particular and I could contribute to give information about what happened in Southeast Asia, especially Indonesia.
One more thing I consider about was dormitory, where I would spend most of my time. I was told that HSE dormitory is one of the best dormitories in Russia. Review of each dormitory on HSE website really helped me to see its condition in particular. As well, the price is quite affordable. I have to pay for around 1.320 rubles each month.