Ksenia Sokolova: “You Can’t Learn this at School”
Many school leavers dream about entering a prestigious university. For Ksenia Sokolova this dream has already come true: on September 1, 2010 she will cross the threshold of the Moscow State University as a Geography Department student. She entered the University after winning the All-Russian Geography Olympiad. This also gave her a chance to take part in the International Geography Olympiad, held from July 29 to August 4 in Taiwan. She won a gold medal at the Olympiad.
Ksenia says that what she has learned during Geography lessons at school has little to do with the competition programme at the Olympiad. Outdated textbooks, the curriculum, which is nothing but a compilation of various disjointed facts and general information about different countries – all of this doesn’t give you the necessary skills to win at such high-level competition. Having general knowledge of Geography doesn’t suffice and if you want to show really good results, you have to study a lot on your own.
The Russian Geographical Society played a central role in preparing the Russian team for this year’s international competition. In the run-up to the academic year’s beginning, Ksenia Sokolova shared her success formula with today’s high school students in an interview with the Russian Geographical Society.
- Ksenia, this is not your first interview after the Olympiad in Taiwan, but this time you give it not as a schoolgirl, but as a university student. How does it feel?
- I haven’t had a chance to understand what it means to be a university student. I hope I understand it already on the first day of my studies. So far, I can say that I’m very positive about my future studies, I’m really looking forward to the beginning of the academic year.
- Do you think you could have entered the University, if you hadn’t won the Olympiad?
- Taking part in the Olympiad and taking entrance exams are the two ways you could follow, and both demand equal amount of effort. If you take the general entrance examinations like everybody else does, you have to prepare to take exams in several subjects, not just in Geography. When you participate in the Olympiad, you have to concentrate only on one subject, but you have to study it much deeper than it is required at school. I chose the latter option. I had taken part in Geography Olympiads since my 7th grade at school, hoping that it would help me enter the Moscow State University.
- It seems that many students are not even aware that there is the Geography Olympiad in Russia. How did you find out about it?
- When I was in the 7th grade, our Geography teacher told my class about this Olympiad. As I liked the subject very much, I decided to have a go at it and won the Moscow City Olympiad. Since then I took part in Geography Olympiads every year. When I finished the 9th grade, the Moscow Institute of Open Education invited me to join the team for the All-Russian Geography Olympiad. Thus I became part of the team and took part in the All-Russian Olympiads during three years in a row.
- That means that every school student can take part in the Olympiad? What exactly should students do to participate?
- At present, there are many school Olympiads in different subjects, and I think that students who are keen on a subject will in this or that way learn about them. The problem is that only a few high school students choose Geography. Most students choose other subjects, which they consider more useful for their future studies. I believe one of the reasons for this is that there isn’t much information about grants in Geography now. That’s why many pupils and school graduates don’t think that geographical sciences are prestigious. But I absolutely disagree with them.
– Let’s talk about the Olympiad in Taiwan now. Representing your country abroad must be a big responsibility. How did you cope? Wasn’t this a “burden” for you?
– Of course I felt the weight of this responsibility. There were four of us, four students from Russia, and we felt like we were a team, were really close-knit. But it is very important not to get too anxious because of this feeling of responsibility; you shouldn’t let it put you under too much pressure.
– How did you cope with the stress?
– Well, I have my own method of coping with stress, which I have worked during the years of participation in the Olympiads. Before an important event I try to take my mind off the event, I try to think about something nice and funny, which has nothing to do with the event. For instance, I might think about the mess my pet dog has made at home recently. You can’t concentrate on the Olympiad all the time, because if you do so, you may have a nervous breakdown. That’s why I force myself to distract and think about something else.
– You’ve travelled a lot over the last year: Kislovodsk, Tver, Taiwan. Has this been interesting or tiresome? What would you choose: to spend a couple of weeks lying on a beach in a chaise-longue or once again tread with your backpack along the route in the field work test at the Olympiad in Taiwan, when you got caught in the tropical shower?
–It all depends on the aim you have. If I just feel like having a rest, I’d rather go and lie on a beach. But on the other hand, lying on a beach for two weeks is good, but so boring. I think that beach holidays should be combined with trips and excursions. As for Taiwan, I enjoyed this trip much more than any other ordinary tourist trips I’ve had. It’s not only about visiting an exotic country, it’s also about doing something myself, achieving something.
– Now, when all the tests are in the past, could you share with our readers what was the most difficult for you? What task were you the least prepared for?
– Students from the Russian team had gone through an intensive preparation course at a special training camp, and we knew what types of tasks we should expect at the Olympiad. So, there were no surprises.
– Do you think that the skills and knowledge tested at the Olympiad are different from skills and knowledge students acquire during Geography lessons in Russian schools?
– School curriculum in Geography in Russia has nothing to do with the skills tested at the International Geography Olympiad. It’s impossible to win a medal at such high-profile Olympiad, using only the skills and knowledge you’ve acquired at school. Russian textbooks in Geography are out-dated. Take, for example, the curriculum for the 10th grade – it’s just a compilation of facts and general information about different countries. Whereas at the International Olympiad there are tasks on geology, analysis of aerial images, essays on various complex geographical topics. You can’t learn this at school in Russia; teachers don’t even mention these things.
- What would you recommend to students who are going to take part in the Geography Olympiad next year? How should they prepare? What should they pay attention to?
– As for the All-Russian Olympiad, you should go all out to prepare for it if you really want to show good results. There certainly are cases when luck gets involved, when you get a task you know all about. But you have much more chances to succeed if you prepare thoroughly. You should go through the tasks of the previous years (they can be found on the Internet). There are specialised books that most of the students read when preparing for the Olympiad. I also think it’s very important to get yourself prepared psychologically. You shouldn’t let yourself get worried to the point when your hands start shaking and your mind stops working properly.
- Preparing for the Olympiads demands a lot of effort and time, doesn’t it?
- I made a lot of effort to prepare for the Olympiads. I attended preparatory courses at the Moscow State University, but mostly I studied on my own, because there isn’t an institution that will teach you everything you have to know to take part in the Olympiads. I hope that one day they will create a special information web-site and students will be able to browse it to learn more about the Olympiads in Geography, to go through sample tests, to read some articles. So far, I had to look for specialised books and articles, which I thought might be useful, myself. Thorough preparations are really time-consuming. So, starting from my 10th grade I studied without attending classes. I realised that I wouldn’t be able to show good results at the Olympiads while studying at school until 3-4 p.m. six days a week.
– How long have you been interested in Geography? What do you like about the subject?
– I’ve been interested in Geography since my childhood. I can’t say that it was one of my Geography teachers who fostered a love of studying Geography in me. But my mother helped me a lot – she actually learned the subject together with me. When I read encyclopedias for children, I particularly liked reading about the Earth, about its nature. I like Geography because, in fact, this subject brings together information and concepts from many sciences, analyses and presents them in an easy and accessible way. Geography is a very applicable science. It teaches about something you can see and touch. Besides, Geography deals with the study of the Earth, and we all live on the Earth. I think it’s very important to know as much as possible about your planet.
– What branch of Geography are you particularly keen on?
– In a year I will have to choose my area of specialisation. I haven’t decided what to choose yet, but I could state my preferences. There are two branches that appeal to me the most: country studies and climatology. These two branches are not related at all, but each one is appealing in its way. As for geography of Russia, I’m more interested in economic geography, rather than physical geography of this country.
–Are you planning to work in the field of geography?
–I very much hope so. I hope I will be able to work as a geographer after my graduation. But I know that it might be difficult, not everybody gets this chance.
– What other jobs could a geographer have?
– As far as I know, many Geography Department graduates work as analysts or logistics specialists in private companies. Meteorologists could work in airports, in meteorological centres or deal in construction projects preparation, for example, when a new gas pipeline is lain consultations with geomorphologists and meteorologists are mandatory.
– Let’s dream for a while. What would be your ideal future in six years?
– If I choose the Department of Meteorology, I’d like to become a climatologist. I find this branch of meteorology more analytical than other branches. The prestige of geographical sciences has been growing lately, and I hope that in the next six years there will be more companies and businesses, which will be in need of climatologists to take care of the environment. And if I choose the Department of Country Studies, I’d like to specialise in Latin America. Western Europe and North America are quite well-studied and problem-free regions, with many scientists and experts specialising in them. But Africa and Asia offer more scope for research, as they are unlike any other region in the world.
