In a new series about the international community at SUSTech, we put a call out to our international students. Sofia Serebrennikova, a Russian freshman, responded to the call. She was the International Student representative at the 2018 SUSTech Convocation, and the Newshub sat down with her early in the 2018 academic year to find out more about her.

About Our International Student and Why She Came to SUSTech

Sofia Serebrennikova is from Moscow, the largest city in the Russian Federation. Sofia revealed to us that she had already studied for a year at the People’s Friendship University of Russia, a public university with the highest level of international students in all of Russia and with the express purpose of giving young people from Asia, Africa and Latin America, especially from poor families, an opportunity to be educated and to become qualified specialists. However, she found that she was not satisfied with her studies there and was looking for somewhere else to study Computer Science. SUSTech was recommended to Sofia, and as a joke, she applied for a position here.

She was surprised when she was accepted into SUSTech, and believes that this will be the best opportunity that she has to do for her education.

Achievements so far and plans for the future

Her achievements will ultimately depend on her major. If Sofia continues with her computer science dream, she hopes to work at a big company like Google or something based in Shenzhen. Alternatively, if she decides to major in mathematics instead, she will head towards academia, seeking masters and Ph.D.’s in the future. “I can still use both for them. I can still use mathematics for computer science, and I can still use computer science for mathematics.”

Struggles for Sofia

The language barrier has been the biggest challenge for Sofia, a problem faced by many international students, and admits that assistance from translation apps and Chinese friends is helping there. Adjusting to the climate and the different food are smaller challenges that Sofia accepts will take time to work out, and after three weeks, she is working her way through it.

Sofia was expecting a more international campus, with everyone speaking English. However, the struggle with language has come with an unusual impact of people wanting to help her. “I was out of nail polish remover, and none of the shops seemed to sell it. I was messaging in one of my group chats, as the only international student in my Chinese class, and about ten girls responded to me! Different messages like “I have it,” “Do you need it,” “I can bring it to you,” it was so sweet of them to want to help me in this way.” She also pointed out that learning Chinese (Mandarin) is going to be enormously helpful to any potential international student who wants to have real experience in China.

Sofia also reflected on the “app for that” nature in China, when thinking about the messages sent in the group. “For the first week we were here, all the vending machines on campus only took WeChat or Alipay. We didn’t have bank accounts yet, so we couldn’t use them.” The point that QR codes are everywhere in China was a point not lost on this author, with Sofia pointing out the existence of QR Codes on cars, clothes, and trees.

She contemplated the differing educational relationships between students and professors. The hands-off approach she was used to in Russia is very different from the far more hands-on and friendly approach that she sees here in China.

Future Adventures

As a freshman, Sofia hasn’t had the chance to get out and explore Shenzhen much but assured us that it is something that she definitely wants to do. “Shenzhen is different from anywhere else in the world and definitely different from old China.” She also wants to make more Chinese friends, to introduce herself to Chinese culture and to borrow a phrase from some of the other international students, “eat all the food.” Sofia did note that she wasn’t that good with spicy food, although she was definitely willing to try as many different types of food as possible.

Having been away for just a few weeks, she still misses her family and best friend, but the five hour time difference does not make it too difficult to communicate with them. On the other hand, Sofia had no qualms about missing her first white Christmas and snow season – the warmer winters that Shenzhen will offer is something that Sofia was absolutely looking forward to.

Her family has a habit of traveling through Asia, so Sofia hopes to take the opportunity to spend time with her family in China while she is here, exploring other parts of not just Shenzhen but other parts of this enormous and varied country.

Message for her countrymen and countrywomen

You should do it; you should try.

It’s different for everyone, but for me, it’s been really open and really communicative, while at the same time, it’s really new. They have a lot of people that weren’t born here, so it’s not really traditional like other cities, which allows you to make your own impact. It will be your influence on how it will grow, how it will change; you can feel all of this through the big community here.

Coming to SUSTech is definitely an experience everyone should try, in that everyone should try and study somewhere outside of their comfort zone. Whether they are living in a dorm or making new friends, everyone is making connections; it’s a really homely atmosphere which makes you feel comfortable so everyone will find a place to fit in here.

For Russians, it shouldn’t be that hard because it’s still pretty close to us. English is hard for everyone, and the language barrier is not something to be afraid of. People are willing to communicate with you and are willing to try to help. Everyone is willing to learn about you and your culture.