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MILENA ŠOFRANAC AT STATE UNIVERSITY IN RUSSIA: Students are the best ambassadors of their country
Milena Šofranac from Podgorica is a student of second year of master studies at Voronezh State University in Russian Federation. She is currently leaving in Germany, in a small beautiful tourist and university town of Wernigerode, at Harz University (The Hochschule Harz), where she is attending the third semester. After that, she will return to Voronezh to finish her master studies on International relations, on subject of Human rights and migrant crisis.
Milena had finished her basic studies in Voronezh, where she went in 2011. as a user of scholarships on the basis of agreements between Ministries of Education of Montenegro and Russia. Although she does not like to talk about it, her index holds only the highest grades, and that is why she is among best students of Voronezh State University.
Delivery of diplomas
– Nine people from Montenegro got their scholarship that year. I was the only one to get Voronezh. I was the first foreign student from former Yugoslavia who had come to study at the town where Petar the Great was born. I arrived to my room at the dormitory in late night hours. There were two girls from Indonesia, Yani and Ririn. Both were wearing burka and the first thing that came to my mind was how will I fit in there and will I be able to fit in at all. For the first half an hour no one spoke, but then Ririn asked if I were hungry and what I would like to eat. From that day onwards lasts the most beautiful friendship of my life. Ririn does no longer looks like a girl from the first year of studies, but like young modern European. She was and still is my backbone during whole years of studying in Voronezh. She is now in Norway – says Milena for MNE magazin.
With friends from dormitory
She says that in dormitory she was surrounded by people from various parts of the world.
– The thing I will remember is their wish to be successful. No one came there to waste their time, but to achieve as better results as possible, so that probably had influence on me to put in great effort as well. Studying abroad teaches everyone to find a solution, be practical and pragmatic. It teaches them to use their chances and present themselves in the best light. In order to get a new chance – says Milena.
FRIENDSHIP FOR LIFE: Milena and Ririn
She speaks of her friends from all continents, about how thrilled they are of Montenegro.
– Every summer a friend of mine from dormitory comes to Montenegro. This summer I had nine people from seven countries: Poland, France, Great Britain, Armenia, Turkey, Iraq and Macedonia. Students who study abroad are truly the ambassadors of their country. At Voronezh State University and the dormitory, there is not a student who does not know of Montenegro. University organizes the event at which students present their countries once a year. That is how I had spoken about Montenegro, its culture and natural beauty for six years. Every presentation is followed by audio and video documents. After one of those presentations, a group of students came up to me and asked: why did you go anywhere from there? And everyone wanted to come and visit our seaside, Podgorica, Zabljak… And they came. This summer there were the most of them. Last year there were girls from Austria, Germany and Indonesia. Everyone returned with beautiful memories. Some are even planning to look for their business opportunities here upon graduating – says Milena.
In Wernigerode
As far as I am concerned, I shall see. I am currently in the beautiful little town, once again surrounded with young people from all over the world. When this passes, I shall decide what to do next. At the moment I wish to graduate as soon as possible and return home. Maybe I make up my mind at last minute and enroll PhD studies. My wish is to connect different cultures and help people. That is why I had chosen human rights and migrant crisis as my master’s thesis. Every man deserves the chance and dignified life. If we cannot change the decisions of our politicians, global trends, we can be people. That is enough. Actually, that is crucial – says Milena.
She ends the story by taking it back at the beginning. And the beginning is not her arrival to Voronezh, but her Elementary school ,,Pavle Rovinski“, which dedicated great amount of attention to the extracurricular activities, enabling students to recognize their talents, develop the competitive spirit and make good atmosphere.
– Everything else is just an upgrade – says Milena.
Mn.M.
