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Goodbye, Groundhog Year
© Daniil Prokofyev/ HSE University
Two years ago, we started a new tradition: releasing an unofficial New Year’s card depicting the year’s events at the university and our hopes for the coming year. The main rule was that the card has to be drawn by a HSE University student.
Last year, we thought that the end of 2020 would also bring the end of the pandemic and a return to normal life. Of course, that’s not how things turned out—2021 was a ‘groundhog year’, full of endless repetition of things we’ve already grown tired of.
We want to believe that in 2022, we will finally escape this rut that has put so many personal and professional plans on hold. We know that the pandemic isn’t likely to end completely, but we hope that we have finally learned to live in the new normal. After all, despite everything that has happened, life goes on and we still have our friends, family, and colleagues close by.
Our thoughts about the year gone by and the year to come have been depicted in a mini-comic by Marina Fedorova, a student of the Foreign Languages and Intercultural Communication undergraduate programme.
Next year marks the 30th anniversary of the founding of HSE University. If the university were a person, this would be a major milestone: the age at which one starts to appreciate those closest more, starts taking stock, and makes more conscious plans for the future. The new academic year at HSE University will start with in-person classes, and we hope that we will all finally be able to meet up in person (including those we only know from Zoom calls so far).
Like us, the HSE University crow loves birthdays and knows that a new year means new opportunities. That’s why we’re all looking to the future with optimism.
Happy New Year, everyone!
Stay with HSE University
Bonus: cards from previous years
Our tradition began in the lead-up to the 2020 New Year—before any of us knew what surprises the year ahead had in store. After a year of hard work and the winter exams, we wanted to go back to our cosy homes and spend time with our friends and family. Now-graduate of HSE University Maria Eremina brought these feelings to life in a card reminiscent of Yury Vasnetsov’s illustrations for the beloved Soviet-era children’s book The Fox and the Mouse.
2020 was a year of constant change and uncertainty for everyone. We decided to take a tongue-in-cheek approach and imagine ourselves a crow on a flaming bicycle—we felt it was the best depiction of what we were feeling about the pandemic and everything going on around us. This postcard was drawn by HSE Student Alina Lyapich.
