On April 5, there was held a meeting of the university management with participants and volunteers of the World Youth Festival 2024 and the federal project Development of the Comfortable Urban Environment in SSU Bldg. 8. It was attended by Rector Alexei Chumachenko and Vice-Rector for Youth Policy and Organisational Work Anton Golovchenko. The WYF participants and volunteers shared their experiences.
The meeting was moderated by Vladislav Bykov, Chair of the SSU Council of Undergraduates and Postgraduates, a student of the Faculty of Sociology, and a participant of the WYF. He gave the floor to Rector Alexei Chumachenko to greet him.
He recalled his experience of volunteering as a student and noted how important this area is now. ‘Dozens of events of various levels are regularly held at the university – from faculty to All-Russian ones. And we always invite our volunteers to these events. It is you – smiling, resourceful, ready to help – who endear yourself to guests, introduce them to our wonderful university. Volunteering has become so much a part of our lives that we can no longer imagine any event without it. Thank you for taking your time, because gratuitous assistance is very important, especially today. I want to tell you that you are great people – not only at events, but in general, because you take an active position, take maximum opportunities from students,’ the rector. Alexei Chumachenko shared the memories of his participation in the WYM, which took place in 1985 in Moscow, with the volunteers.
Another topic that the rector touched upon was the project of developing the comfortable urban environment – the university volunteers helped implement it at the university site. Anton Golovchenko added that before the meeting, the rector had signed an order – letters of appreciation were given to all volunteers of the project Development of the Comfortable Urban Environment.
This year, the World Youth Festival, which took place from March 1-7 in Sirius, was attended by 6 SSU students. Anna Ganyushkina, Head of the Volunteers of the SSU Council of Undergraduates and Postgraduates, was the first to present her work as a volunteer attaché to an international delegation. She talked about round-the-clock shifts, language barriers, and daily tasks, the main of which was to help international participants indulge into the festival. Anna was responsible for the delegation from Serbia (direction:The Balkans), stayed in touch with them 24 hours a day.
Another Saratov State University volunteer who attended the meeting was Anna Drozd. She told the audience about the merch of the Saratov delegation, which depicted Yuri Gagarin. ‘Don't sit still, apply for different festivals. I am already a fourth-year students, and I am sad that student life is ending,’ Anna gave advice to junior students and added that anyone should try to prove themselves in this field at least once.
The next speaker was Alexander Chizhov, Head of the Headquarters of the SSU Student Brigades. He attended the World Youth Festival as a participant and shared his experience of visiting venues and events. He advised students to keep two things in mind – a portfolio and the strategy (or tactics). In addition, the audience was shown a video as a vlog, which was uploaded in the official group of the Headquarters of the SSU Student Brigades.
As part of the festival, the delegation of Saratov Region received an important task – to meet the participating guests from Pakistan. Svetlana Zemtsova spoke about the meeting with the guests. The participant noted that even before leaving for Sochi, she had come up with the idea to bring a kalach from Saratov. Svetlana greeted the Pakistanis with bread and salt, and the entire Saratov delegation sang Katyusha. ‘It is discipline that determines the result, and if every six years the WFM takes place, then I am ready to be an activist until old age in order to come to this event more several times and feel this atmosphere,’ Svetlana concluded her story with these words.
Anastasia Vasilyeva took part in the WYF as an interpreter as part of the regional delegation. For her, this was the first experience of consecutive interpretation by native speakers. The student also told the members about the merch of the participants, the symbol of the festival – Cheburashka, as well as master classes and meetings with creative celebrities who managed to attend it.
The last speaker was Alexander Zhumagaliyev, who also celebrated his birthday during the festival. First of all, he thanked the university and the Council of Undergraduates and Postgraduates for being able to attend this large-scale event. Alexander said that he had managed to attend the Battle of Choirs and even sing with its participants, had an opportunity to see the organisation of the festival, and bring ideas for interactivity and scenarios to his university.
At the end of the meeting, the volunteers and the participants took a photo.
