Jildyz Aerstan: AUCA doesn’t just care about students’ academic life, but also their social lives

May 16, 2017

AUCA extends a very warm welcome to international students.  As an international student, you have the opportunity of a life time to attain well-rounded education that goes beyond the academic.  An international education imbues you with, amongst others, attributes of adaptability, flexibility, and cultural fluency: the soft skills so sought after by employers world-wide.  But every person has own unique experience. In the interview below is on of them. Read more about Jildyz Aerstan, Kyrgyz girl from China, sophomore in Sociology department.

My first day at AUCA was quite interesting. I came with my mom and was unsuccessfully trying to find the president’s office—we were in the old campus. In the end I had to call my friend who from China who had come earlier than I had, and asked him to help me with registration and meeting with professors. Everything was so new to me: new languages, new people, new surroundings, and new classes. After my first class, my friend invited me to the kitchenette (a concept which was also very novel to me). I met some new friends there and had a really good time. In short, I’ve felt very welcome, even from day one.

A lot of people are confused when I tell them I am Kyrgyz and from China. Perhaps they think that Kyrgyz people only come from Kyrgyzstan. As a matter of fact, there are lot of Kyrgyz people in China, and not only Kyrgyz, but also Uyghur, Kazak, Uzbek, Dungan and another 56 nationalities.

Here at AUCA, everyone looks so full of energy and full of passion, which is not too common at Chinese universities. What particularly attracted me to AUCA, though, was the teaching style. Here, we can talk to our professors freely without having to be afraid that it might be wrong.

What’s more, AUCA doesn’t just care about students’ academic life, but also their social lives. We are offered plenty of extracurricular activities that help us get to know more people. For example, my freshmen year, I joined the photo club, where they taught us basic photography tips and techniques. We even ran a project photographing random people on the street and asking them about their dreams. I was also engaged in the volleyball club last semester. I have always liked volleyball, but before I came to AUCA I never had the chance to actually play it. There are lot of people who play it very well here and they were all nice enough to teach those of us who were starting out. Now, I look forward to playing volleyball every day.

Most of my problems at AUCA are related to the difficulty of my studies. As a Sociology student, I am required to read and write a lot, and I have had a hard time reading so much material in English. I cannot say that I don’t have this difficulty anymore—I still do—but I’ve been able to developed some ways of dealing with it and trying to get used to it.

The only thing I still haven’t been able to get used to is the food here. Most of the food both in the university and at restaurants is very different from what we have in China. We prefer spicy and something fried versus the more boiled and heavy food here.

I am still confused about whether I should stay or leave, and I think it will come down to my future career. I’m thinking about starting a Master’s degree in an foreign country, just to give myself more opportunities to live in and know more places. I think it is worth it to travel more and study more.

Of course, I miss my hometown once in a while. All my friend from childhood are there and so is my family. The funny thing is, when I’m back in home, I actually start missing my time in Bishkek and want to come back. Maybe I’ve gotten used to it here—it feels like home."

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