Such times have come that you want to be an eternal student

We usually associate the word “student” with a chronically sleep-deprived person who sorely lacks time to prepare for a test, exam, session, etc. He prays to God that all this study will end quickly, and he will become… free, independent, and rush to the capital.

However, meeting students and graduates of Smolensk State Medical University forced me to radically change this idea. And, as it turned out, this happened not only to me. Many residents of Smolensk have noticed that their lives are slowly beginning to change, and for the better. Could it have been different if the great history of Rus’ is hidden in every meter of this territory.

The gas workers have distinguished themselves!

Active citizens of Smolensk believe that the intensive socio-economic movement in their region began with reports to the top of their acting governor Vasily Anokhin. He once said that the outflow of young and active citizens is “a challenge for the region.” And he proposed creating a student campus in Smolensk. The idea was continued. The head of the Smolensk region worked on the initiative and discussed it with the assistant to the head of state Maxim Oreshkin, the Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation Valery Falkov. And then President Putin himself ordered the allocation of 15 billion rubles for the construction of a student campus in Smolensk. This project is designed for two stages: design, construction and modernization of 13 campus facilities (2024–2026), followed by the next two years for the development and launch of this campus. Someone will say: all this will not happen soon and not on time. Meanwhile, specialists from Gazprom Gas Distribution Smolensk, before the start of the academic year, had already completed the construction of a gas pipeline to the boiler room of the new campus buildings of the Smolensk State Medical Academy.

The gas boiler house will supply heat and hot water to the 14-storey student dormitory with 750 seats under construction and the building of the future central student club. These buildings are now being built on the territory of the university. The gas boiler house itself was built through the federal investment program. According to official data, the cost of this building was 100 million rubles. A number of buildings on the territory of the medical university will be connected to the heating facility. Previously, this medical university received targeted support with the approval of the Russian Ministry of Health.

By the way, gasification work was supposed to take about two years. But, given the high social significance of this facility for one of the largest universities in the region, gas workers decided to distinguish themselves. They delivered the property ahead of schedule! Director of the Smolensk branch of Gazprom Gas Distribution Smolensk JSC Maxim Ostafiychuk said: “The work was completed in less than a year, despite repeated changes to the design solution due to the large number of communications. They were located in the gas pipeline right-of-way.”

And I was able to talk not only with those for whom all this is essentially being done (with students, future doctors and scientists), but also with graduates of the medical alma mater.

Becoming a doctor was my dream

– Our Smolensk Medical Academy is a cult place. If you are a zombie at heart, that is, enthusiastic, then this is your educational institution. I graduated from this university a long time ago, but it feels like it was just yesterday. I wanted to enter the Faculty of Medicine, but they immediately told me that the competition makes me shudder. I was offered to go to pediatrics. To be honest, these faculties are one and the same. Only one of them has more girls,” says graduate Anton Kirillov. – Our group then consisted of only 23 people. At almost every seminar it was divided in half. So we have built close educational interactions with the teachers. I remember how from the moment of my admission a sleepless life began: anatomy was replaced by chemistry, chemistry by physics. And then, starting with the new semester, histology was also added. We only dreamed of peace! The only chance to somehow influence one’s grade was to participate in scientific conferences or the social life of the academy. The teachers themselves are the best specialists I have ever known. And they ask you not as a student, but as yourself. “This is why all the doctors have bruises under their eyes.” But I liked it. Becoming a doctor was my dream.

Anton’s colleague enters the conversation.

– All I can say is that the study was interesting and really useful. But don’t think that manna from heaven will fall on you as soon as you receive your student ID. Here you need to work to the fullest. And the more you work, the higher the results you will get. Yes, studying here is not easy. But medicine is a complex science in general. Not everyone can master it. If a person does not have the desire or strength to study medicine, then it is better not to try. You need to feel your purpose! – says graduate Konstantin Luchinin. – Our Medical Academy in Smolensk, I think, rules today! Although “in numbers” the situation looks different. I follow the rankings of Russian universities. So, last year our Smolensk State Medical University dropped from 209th place in the list to 346th. The reason, I think, is in the leadership of the university. It may be more concerned with personal gain than with the development of the university. Therefore, I was very pleasantly surprised that the President paid attention to our Smolensk region and specifically to the students who will build the future. After all, Smolensk is one of the first cities of Rus’. And although the time of its foundation is unknown, it is mentioned in the Ustyuzhensky arch under the year 863. The Student Campus construction project is simply crazy. I heard that Sberbank and Rosatom will participate in it. I would like to come here again and study, because today there are huge opportunities here! There will be so many interesting things. Such times have come that you want to be an eternal student. In such conditions, God himself ordered to grow forward and upward!

After such words, it is impossible not to listen to today’s medical university students.

– To be honest, I feel driven. Now the region has relied on young and active residents, that is, people like me. I feel a special responsibility looking at what is happening around me. After all, all these conditions have been created for both me and my neighbor at the desk. That is, for people like us, ordinary students. Previously, after graduating from university, people flocked to the capital – Moscow. It seems that there are more opportunities there, and the salaries are good. But this is a huge misconception. Now times are changing: a turning point has come both in our lives and in our heads,” says student Alena Smirnova. – For example, I and my immediate circle are not going to Moscow after graduation. Firstly, it is already overcrowded, and secondly, we are “fed well” here too. We see how they care about us: they plan, build, supply gas. Which university can boast of its own gas boiler room?! And we have it! And judging by its scale and capacity, it is absolutely clear that we are up to something grandiose! Having your own campus in the city is fantastic! I have a pen pal in Arkhangelsk, she is also a future doctor. So, last year she told me that they had launched a project to create a world-class campus “Arctic Star”. It will be approximately the same as ours, only on a larger scale. We will probably somehow interact with them at the interuniversity level. And we will have the opportunity to implement the most daring projects! By the way, not only medical ones. She spoke about breakthrough ideas for training personnel for Arctic development. But, by and large, the emergence of campuses like ours or in the Arkhangelsk Territory is a contribution to the development of human capital.

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