Rain Won’t Stop Us: HSE Day 2015

On the 9th of September the fourth HSE Day went ahead in Gorky Park. It began with an event for parents of aspiring young university applicants and ended with a student initiation for first years and a concert by the rock band  Splean. To find out more about our open-day festival — take a look at the photos!

‘Mum said I could stay out until 9.30,’ a student warned her friend when it was just after two o’clock and HSE Day in Gorky Park was just beginning. Rather, just beginning for the youngsters because parents of future applicants had already been at a ‘parents conference’ since mid-day asking Vice Rector Sergey Roshchin  countless questions.  

The open day was organised by the big fountain and potential students crowded around the marquees for each faculty. Law Faculty Dean, Evgeny Salygin said this year there were even more young people than last asking about the courses.  ‘The questions are the same, how to apply and what to study, although  some people are still puzzled by the Bologna Process’. The faculties presented their bachelor’s and master’s programmes and a lot of young people asked what is the point of a master’s. Volunteers and heads of faculties — you could meet a dean or at least a deputy dean in every marquee - explained the whys and the wherefores. And the law department, to show that studying at HSE is not boring — put on a dance flashmob. 

HSE Rector Yaroslav Kuzminov with students

As usual the many courts and pitches in the park were packed and even the periodic showers didn’t put the sportsmen off. The first years probably had to move about the most (HSE Day is after all First Years Day). A quest had been designed for them across the entire park. Everyone who completed it was handed a certificate and souvenirs. The lucky ones found a free ticket to a Splean concert at the Green Theatre. The most stubborn first years carried on the quest in spite of a summer downpour. There were volunteers cheering them on, one of them, drenched to the skin cried ‘this way, this way!’, merrily when he saw a group of first years coming towards him. 

Various HSE student organisations devised another quest. If you completed a task you got a stamp from each student organisation. The more stamps you got, the bigger the prize you could win. This quest was open to everyone. 

There were activities for HSE’s international students who are on the increase. Anyone who came near the Russian Tea Room could see. It’s nice to talk over a glass of tea, even if you speak in different languages. You could learn a new language and not just English, French or Italian. The Department for working with students from the CIS and Baltic states organised a language game with students from Lithuania, Moldova, Armenia and others. At the department they are hoping that one or other of these students will help HSE run educational events in neighbouring countries.  

Some of HSE’s top professors gave open lectures in neuroeconomics, international relations, cultural studies, urban studies, how to build a career and other subjects, and there was an English language lyceum. Constructions and mechanisms designed at HSE MIEM were on display in the science marquees and you could find out more about cognitive sciences, submerge yourself in the world of optical illusions of undergo a lie detector test.  

The summer rainstorm which burst over Gorky Park in the middle of the day had dried up by the evening - just in time for the first years’ HSE student initiation ceremony. ‘What would people think of us, after the rainy Moscow City Day, if we provided sunny weather today?’ asked HSE President, Alexander Shokhin with characteristic humour. Professor Shokhin was joined on the main stage in the park by HSE’s Academic Supervisor Evgeny Yasin and HSE Rector Yaroslav Kuzminov. 

Studying at HSE is a kind of quest too. Evgeny Yasin said he hopes students will make the most of the opportunities they are offered and see the fruits of their own work. Yaroslav Kuzminov challenged first years to waste no time and get involved in research projects at the university. ‘I sincerely hope you will find something exciting going on around you, people who have already begun a career in research or managers or media magnates. They are all here to help you,’ said the Rector. ‘They will be looking out for the brightest and most talented among you and you are looking for them. Whoever finds what they are looking for first will have a massive headstart.’

Splean Concert

You can find more information about HSE Day 2015 in the live page HSE News ran on the university website on the 9th September.

Photos by Mikhail Dmitriev, Anastasia Tulupova and Sergei Strokov