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| hope college > admissions > international students |
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What Students Say Olga Ananina  "I
think the international education here is very important," says Olga Ananina,
a student from the Moscow region of Russia. "I hope that more American
students will get fully acquainted with other cultures."She feels the sorts of experiences Hope offers combat ignorance and enable people of differing cultures and backgrounds to understand one another and get along. She says that people can't go through life having no idea what is going on in other parts of the world. "Some people don't even try to understand other cultures, or if they do try and they don't understand it right away they just give up," she says. Her strong belief in the importance of international understanding makes Hope a good place to be for Ananina. "It's very diversified," she says. "There are people here from all over." "I like the attitude of people here," she adds. "I never feel under pressure and there are no snobs here. Snobs can be found almost anywhere, but here they're a definite minority. And Hope is fun!" "When I first got here I was a little bit scared to be in the classroom and to ask questions, but the professors seem quite understanding and really give a lot of personal attention," explains Ananina. Currently she is considering a major in education. "I really like small kids; I think it's important to bring them up so that they have a lot of self esteem," she says. "Also I like a lot of things about American systems like grading, how the classrooms are set up, and how children and teacher behave in the classroom, so I think it will be neat to bring it home." Russia's educational setting is much more formal. "Kids would never be permitted to sit on the floor. The grading system is such that if you make one mistake you can never get an 'A.' The American system is more encouraging," she says. Some day, if she chooses, Olga Ananina will be able to give the same encouragement that she has found at Hope to students of her own. |
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