Students of "Ala-Too" abroad

April 20, 2020

We begin a series of interviews with our students who have studied abroad through student exchange programs. Today we meet with a 4-year student at the Department of Management at the Faculty of Economics and Administration-Bahridin Mikhidinov.

- Hello, Bahridin. You studied for 1 semester at Gachon University in South Korea, please tell us why you decided to go there exactly?

B: Hello. I applied for an exchange program for the second semester of the third year, so this was my last chance. Before that, I applied to other grant programs, but without success. So I decided to try myself at the University of Poland, but the quota was not enough and I chose South Korea on the advice of the coordinator of the Office of International Relations.

     


- Did not you regret that you made such a choice?

B: No, of course no! Everything was very cool, I really liked it and Asia is just super!

-What impression did you get in Korea?

B: Culture. You know, Koreans are very patriotic, as for me. I will share with you the story for an example, which I personally observed. When exchange students come to the University of South Korea,  administration gives them a Buddy-assistant. This is in fact your personal assistant in any matters. During my stay, Korea held presidential elections, and one Buddy needed to leave urgently. So, he voted ahead of time, but did not ignore the elections, because for Koreans the fate of the Motherland is very important. I liked this active civic position.

 -Which experience did you gain while you were there?

B: First of all, of course knowledge. By the way, I finished all the subjects that I took in Gachon perfectly. For Koreans, it was, of course, a surprise. They did not think that students from Kyrgyzstan might not be illiterate. I hope that I represented our university and the whole Kyrgyzstan worthily! I also tried very hard to find our diaspora there, but without any success. But I met many students from Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. We became very friendly with the Kazakhs. They celebrated Nooruz 3 times, first themselves, then at the university, and then they even arranged a holiday for foreign students, it was a very interesting experience!


- What role did our university play in the international experience you gained?

B: From the very beginning, when I only was choosing which higher educational institution to enroll, Ala-Too attracted me with its student exchange programs, because not all universities in Kyrgyzstan have the opportunity to study abroad. I tried to apply for exchange program from the second year, and after that I succeed . In general, I would like to thank the staff of the Office of International Relations for the fact that they are constantly trying to expand the boundaries for our students, are looking for new universities and signing cooperation agreements with them. Moreover, me and two girls became first students from AIU to visit  the Gachon University.

  


-Well, in the end, what advice would you give to the students?

B: In my experience, I can say, do not wait. Do not expect that everything will be easy, that you will definitely be taken to the grant quotas. You must apply for exchange programs, whenever possible. Dare immediately, it's worth it!

- Thank you very much, Bahridin for the fascinating conversation and good luck to you!

B: Thank you very much!

Interviewed by Elena Romanenko