“School is a springboard into life and profession”: a meeting of generations was held at the phil faculty of BSU

The career-oriented action “School – a springboard into life and profession” took place at the Faculty of Philology of the Belarusian State University on September 29, the correspondent of the Minsk-Novosti agency reports.

The event brought together about a hundred students and graduates of the faculty of different years: those who graduated from the university 50 years ago - in 1976, and a representative of the 2001 issue - Deputy Chairman of the Minsk City Executive Committee Andrei Striegelsky. The meeting in the format of an open dialogue was devoted to the continuity of generations, the transfer of practical experience to future teachers and the role of humanitarian education in modern society.

Today, about 1,000 Belarusian and about 500 foreign students study at the BSU Faculty of Philology. Specialists have been trained here since the first days of the university’s foundation in 1921.

Ah. Strigelsky shared with young people memories of student years, combining studies with the first steps in pedagogy and management.

- Everything that I managed to achieve in life was laid in these classrooms, in the atmosphere of the philological faculty, thanks to my dear teachers, the deputy chairman of the Minsk City Executive Committee emphasized. It so happened that I went to school early – literally from the second year of the full-time department. It was not easy: during the day lectures and seminars, for each session huge lists of fiction, and in parallel - preparation for school lessons, stacks of notebooks, class guide. But this experience taught me the most important thing - responsibility, concentration and the ability to connect with people.

He urged future graduates not to be afraid of working in the education system and distribution to schools.

- Most of you will associate your destiny with teaching. It has never been easy in the teaching profession: at any time it was important to choose an individual approach to the child, to engage with your subject, to convey the beauty of the native language and literature. Knowledge of the method is necessary, but the main thing is to be sincere and caring. Children always feel falsehood, and if they see the burning eyes of the teacher, they will surely reach for him, Strigelsky said.

The half-century path in the profession was told by graduates of 1976, including the Dean of the Faculty of Philology of BSPU named after M. Tank Vasily Starichenok.

Exactly 50 years ago we graduated from university. Our faculty was then located on Krasnoarmeyskaya Street, where the history department is now located, he said. Of our 114 people, only one was distributed in Minsk at the time, the rest dispersed throughout the country, and everyone started from school. Philological education is large-scale: love of the word and the ability to work with it always lead to a creative result. The paths of classmates diverged — someone stayed at school, someone teaches at universities, raises candidates and doctors of science, someone went to art. But we all have a common strong core - our native philfak.

Her experience of finding a vocation was shared by a graduate of 1976 Lyudmila Ditsevich, a poet, author of three books and 89 musical compositions, a teacher and a psychologist.

Philological foundation gives great inner freedom and flexibility. I found myself in literature, music, and over time I received a psychological education and help people to maintain harmony and health, said Ditsevich. I wish students not to give in to difficulties, but to transform them into points of growth. Life is interesting, full of possibilities and creativity, if you treat it openly.

Among the guests of the meeting were other famous graduates: painter Oleg Drobyshevsky, as well as a teacher of Belarusian language and literature of the Republican Gymnasium-College at the Belarusian State Academy of Music Lyudmila Romanovskaya.

In the format of an open microphone, students asked the speakers about the secrets of pedagogical skills, the intricacies of school teaching and the possibilities of professional self-realization in the capital.

Photo by Irina Malinovskaya