As a student from Russia got into an American floating university

Floating University has been operating for over 50 years. Photo facebook.com/SemesteratSea

Kira Tverskaya received a full scholarship to participate in the American “half-student university” program Semester at Sea. She spent 4 months on board the ship, during which she was able to excel in studying the humanities, make a documentary, meet NASA astronauts and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Desmond Tutu, and visit 16 countries.

The floating university is a non-profit project, organized by the Institute for Shipboard Education in the United States more than 50 years ago. Every year the Institute chooses a partner who coordinates the entire educational process on board.

Muscovite Kira Tverskaya received a full scholarship to participate in the American “semi-study university” program Semester at Sea. Photo from the heroine’s personal archive.

“In my case, it was the University of Virginia,” says Muscovite Kira Tverskaya. — The essence of the program is that you board a ship and, together with other 600 students, study and listen to lectures while sailing from one port to another. In each port (for one such trip their number can reach 20) there are short stops from 2 to 5 days, where you are allowed to go out, walk, take excursions or participate in the so-called field labs - visiting laboratories from the classes that you take during your studies .

In America, the Semester at Sea program is widely known, and there are many successful people among the graduates of the program. For example, designer Tory Burch, actress Cynthia Nixon, who played Miranda in Sex and the City, businessman Adam Brown, who created the charitable organization Pencils os Promise, which builds schools in developing countries, and Blake Micocci, the founder of the shoe company Toms, which each pair sold gives one pair to needy children.

“The project is carried out twice a year: in the fall the route goes around the Atlantic, in the spring around the world,” says Kira. — I had the opportunity to visit cities in 2 countries in 115 days: Southampton (England), St. Petersburg (Russia), Hamburg (Germany), Antwerp (Belgium), Le Havre (France), Dublin (Ireland), Lisbon (Portugal), Cadiz (Spain), Casablanca (Morocco), Takoradi and Tema (Ghana), Cape Town (South Africa), Buenos Aires (Argentina), Rio de Janeiro and Salvador (Brazil), Havana (Cuba) and Fort Lauderdale (USA) . By the way, in fact, we also visited the Bahamas - we were supposed to go there only to refuel, but for good behavior on board we were allowed to spend one day in the Bahamas.

In the autumn, the route passes around the Atlantic, in spring - around the world. Photo facebook.com/SemesteratSea

How and what can you save

“When I first heard about Semester at Sea, I liked the combination of the words “semester” and “sea,” recalls Kira. — I went to the website, looked at the price tag of the program and realized that it was, to put it mildly, a little expensive. I was upset until I saw that scholarships have recently appeared for foreign students - many thanks to the graduates of the program who donate money for this.

First you need to fill out a form on Online (Now there is a recruitment for a training flight, which will begin in September in Germany and will end at the end of December in San Diego) - it includes information about you and your academic background, as well as a letter of motivation. The filing fee is 50 dollars, but you can save them if you know a cunning code and enter the word anchor in the appropriate field. After that, the project coordinator contacts you and asks you to provide a certificate of knowledge of English - TOEFL or IELTS.

It baffled me, because there was no catastrophic time to prepare and pass it. I asked at random - what if my English teacher would write me a letter of introduction? Surprisingly, it worked. The second document that was required is a certificate stating that I am a diligent and disciplined student. It can be signed by any person from the university who knows you — say, a professor or coordinator from the academic department.

After several weeks of waiting, I found out that they were taking me into the program, and ran to pay a deposit of $ 1 a thousand dollars - this is for booking a place in the cabin. The sooner you do this, the cheaper it will be to stay - over time, the amount grows exponentially. In case of refusal to participate, the deposit is fully refunded, except for the situation when you do it less than 90 days before the start of the program. In practice, after the announcement of all scholarships, you are always given about a week for a decision.

Paying a deposit, you can apply for scholarships. Photo facebook.com/SemesteratSea

Having paid the deposit, you can apply for a scholarship and get access to your personal account to register for the courses of the program - they are snapped up like hot cakes. In the same place the list of visas and vaccinations specifically for you is posted. For my trip, I had to be vaccinated against yellow fever (it is required to enter Ghana, in Moscow for residents to get it for free) and get 5 visas: to the USA, England, Schengen countries, Ghana and South Africa.

How to get a few scholarships

- Undergraduate students in terms of financial support in priority. We also had masters, but there are no full scholarships for them - in any case, you will have to pay extra from your own pocket. I met several graduate students with partial scholarships. A separate category - the so-called lifelong learners - are adult participants who fully pay for their stay on the ship.

The cost of the program in our fall semester - from $ 24 thousand - is simply a very heavy sum for 4 months. I did not count on a full scholarship (Presidential Scholarship) and decided to apply for several others - they could be summed up.

It was necessary to provide an academic certificate with grades and calculate the average score (I got 3,7 from 4,0, in fact, the GPA above 3,0 is already considered normal). I wrote an essay on merit-based scholarship, telling what I can bring to the international community. There was no need to write anything on need-based scholarship - just prepare a certificate of parents' income. If the annual income does not exceed about $ 45 thousand, in the USA such a family is considered low-income - I calmly fell into this category.

At the last moment I thought that I would not lose anything if I applied for a presidential scholarship. It covers tuition, accommodation, meals and insurance (which is valid only during stops at the ports). It remains only to pay for flights from the place of residence to the point of departure and back (in my case it was the flights Moscow - London and Fort Lauderdale - New York - Moscow), visa fees and insurance for the time spent on the ship.

On board were 550 American students and only 50 foreign. Photo facebook.com/pg/SemesteratSea

In the application they asked to write a few essays: to prove that you are worthy of a scholarship, and what qualities you would like to develop in yourself during the program. In the second part you have to offer a project that you implement during the trip. There were 550 American students on board and only 50 foreign, of which 3 received full scholarship - including me. Many simply did not try, thinking that it was too tough for them. One of the scholars studied free trade, the other - port operations.

My proposal was a pure adventure - I decided to shoot a documentary. At that time I knew how to hold a camera in my hands and work with sound, but I had little idea about editing, for example. Nevertheless, I decided to take a chance.

I wanted to tell the stories of 3 to absolutely different people from different social groups and countries on the ship, and show their development during the trip. Now, inspired by my example, many offer photo and video projects, but in fact you need to come up with something truly original and, most importantly, doable.

How does the floating university

- On the ship MV Explorer 7 decks. Downstairs - cargo compartments, from the second to the fourth deck - residential cabins, on the fifth live mostly employees and lifelong learners, on the sixth there are classes and a dining room, on the seventh - a gym, cabins of deans, a beauty center and a tiny pool. All conditions were created for people in wheelchairs. Cabins were offered of different types: economical with 2-storey bunks, cabins for two with no windows and for two with windows. The cheapest flew the fastest (especially among those applying for scholarships). I got a cabin for two without windows.

One of the classes. Photo facebook.com/pg/SemesteratSea

Before that, I never once lived with my neighbors. We had a group on Facebook where we met each other before the trip and could find a roommate of interest in advance, finding out if a person likes to sleep with light or without, can even live a day without parties ... So I got a neighbor and I became good friends. Sometimes she had classes in the visual arts — I could come to our cabin, and there it smelled of paint and the works were dried everywhere. But it did not bother me.

The first 3 days on the ship were remembered as the most difficult - we were crippled by seasickness. But the tips to drink ginger tea and eat ginger cookies were justified - the body soon adapted. There were no serious jumps during the trip - we were lucky, what can not be said about the guys who sailed 10 years ago from Hawaii to Japan. They got into such a storm that the waves covered the ship entirely and broke the glass in the navigation room - all the electronics refused. She was repaired, but had to urgently return to Hawaii, from where the students were sent on by plane while the ship was in repair.

My regular school day

- The choice of courses was impressive. Everyone chose an 1 subject from global comparative lense (there are around 7 – 10) - for example, world politics, business, art - and 3-4 specialized courses in different areas: astronomy, food anthropology, international relations theory, international management, visual arts, world religions ... Yes, almost anything, although there were few technical subjects.

All days on the ship were divided into A and B - each item went on a specific day. By choosing a course, you could easily plan your schedule. Weeks as such were not there - the days went on, and the classes went on while we sailed to the next port. In the port, accordingly, you do what you want. I dreamed of getting on a course in travel journalism, but I was let down by a technician. To register, you enter your account exactly on that day and at the time the recording opens. Entrepreneurial students logged in half an hour before. I, trying to log into the account at the exact time, could not do it - the server was overloaded. When it was finally possible to enter, all the places were already taken apart.

The travel journalism course has become the most popular along with marine biology and the geography of wine (where the guys had a lot of tastings). As a result, world music, acting, globalization through cinema and an interesting course in psychology - human sexuality - came into my mix.

I wanted a variety. On every subject we had 15 – 25 people; on courses from the list of global comparative lense, the number of students reached 100. I had classes on 2 per day, each - for an hour to fifteen. Some recruited 4 classes per day to rest the next day.

If at home, in Moscow, I can not see my close friends for months, then on the ship I had much more time to communicate with people. By the way, I met two compatriots - they were from Kazan, but they studied at the American University in Bulgaria. Great guys! We sometimes arranged such an informal Russian circle with them in the corridors, we remembered our native language. When I was tired of huge portions of communication, I just went to the ship’s library, sat between the shelves and took up books.

The most popular course was travel journalism. Photo facebook.com/pg/SemesteratSea

I made friends with many lifelong learners. One couple - the ship's psychologist and her husband, who had previously worked as a nurse, became like a family to me. I also enjoyed dinners with Hawaiians - an elderly couple, in which the wife is a psychologist and her husband teaches history. They had touching ship habits. For example, after dinner she could tell him: “Dear, take me to the cinema” - and they went to the cabin to watch the films brought with them. They taught me to get a daily dose of “hugs” - when I returned to Moscow, I missed them a lot.

Terribly liked to talk with teachers. Where else at breakfast can you say to yourself: can you sit at the table with the professor of globalization, chat, and then be late with him to his work? For example, among the teachers was a professor of geography, John Boyer - a local legend. It gathers thousands of people on 2. At one of his lectures at the Technical University of Virginia was to come the King of Jordan, but because of a snow storm, his plane could not fly out of Washington. The king personally called the professor, apologized and recorded a video message to the students, promising to be sure to come next time.

On the ship, there is much more time to communicate with people. Photo facebook.com/pg/SemesteratSea

I also met two NASA astronauts - Catherine Thornton (she was the dean of the academic unit) and Pinkie Nelson (professor of astronomy). Pinky told me that he was engaged in science all his life, saw an ad about recruiting for a NASA project and submitted an application. His wife laughed for a long time - Pinky was swayed in any kind of transport. Before the interview, he had to undergo medical tests - Pinky was dripped into his eyes with something, he got lost in the NASA complex and was late for an interview. And Catherine on one of the tests gave some kind of drug, from which she felt very tipsy, and so, giggling, she had to go for an interview. But at NASA they took them all the same - that is what purposefulness means. Astronauts are a separate category of people. They were very amused when we asked how it was there in space. Yes, normal, they say! Why? They told stories about how to play colleagues on the space station, drink coffee from the air and throw bananas correctly.

Among the invited speakers were world-class figures - for example, we were visited by the Archbishop and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Desmond Tutu, who along with Nelson Mandela is known as an active fighter against apartheid. From our compatriots on the ship Gorbachev once spoke.

We were visited by the Archbishop and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Desmond Tutu, who along with Nelson Mandela is known as an active fighter against apartheid. Photos from the personal archive of Kira Tverskaya.

Shabbat krudok, yoga and other joys

“The students organized their own interest groups — yoga, dancing, weight training ... I attended the Shabbat circle — they gathered on Fridays. We were specially baked the right bread for us and even provided a bottle of sweet wine (alcohol is not allowed on the ship at all), we studied Jewish traditions and arranged interesting events.

For example, once played in a "secret donor" - you pull out the paper with the name of one of the members of the group, which should give a gift. Up to this point during the week leave this person clues that he would guess who you are, but not immediately. Every morning I found a chocolate on my door, but I didn't understand who the sender was - I didn't even know all the participants by name. Then the evening of revelation came, when everyone gave each other presents - it turned out we never even spoke to that girl.

Students independently organized hobby groups - yoga, dancing, weight training. Photo facebook.com/SemesteratSea

The sailors have a tradition - to celebrate the Day of Neptune, when you first cross the equator. You are doused with fish scum, you jump into the pool, kiss the ring of Neptune (captain), and shave your head. True, we got off with a lighter version, and no one ever shaved his head, although many did it voluntarily. Then they went all the same and burned, because they forgot to smear bald spot with sunscreen. And Africa is Africa!

On the last day of the program the whole ship roared. Returning and having passed the session, I sat for about a month on the couch in an embrace with a cat, a computer and chocolate - I really wanted to go back.

About fellow Americans

- For the film I was working on, it was required to find 3 heroes from different countries, but it turned out to be difficult - there were few international students. Therefore, they were Americans - I found one in the group on Facebook, and 2 others somehow came to me smoothly. The first heroine is a woman in a wheelchair who took part in Semester at Sea, arguing with her daughter. She did not want to go to the university and said that she would agree to start studying on one condition - if the mother also returned to study. Well, my mother was not a blunder. The second girl represented the LGBT community. My roommate became the third heroine - at first I didn’t consider her, but then I realized that this was an ideal option: an introvert girl, never in her life left the States from a low-income family. She wanted to get out of her cocoon - she got a job at 4, was able to get partial grants, and so was on the ship.

On a camel in Morocco shook terribly, but even there the camera did not let down. Photos from the personal archive of Kira Tverskaya

I bought the equipment for shooting at my own expense. All I needed was a good camera with a built-in stabilizer. On a camel in Morocco shook terribly, but even there the camera did not let down. Planning ahead was impossible. You come to the port, you want to take pictures of your characters, and they are gone. I had to alternate shooting along the way, depending on who was available when. LGBT-girl, for example, I shot in Russia - Peter was our first port, and she, having heard many different stories, was afraid to go out there. And she was not the only one. As a result, everyone just fell in love with St. Petersburg.

The program charter states that if you do not implement your project, you must pay the organizers the full cost. As practice shows, there were no such precedents.

Returning home from a trip, I was not up to work on the project, because the session at Moscow State University, to which I absolutely did not prepare, was not canceled. After passing tests and exams, I returned to sorting the footage, while working on a diploma and preparing for state studies. In the end, I made an 14-minute film that became part of my creative diploma.

Surprisingly, all the qualities that I wrote about in my essay on the presidential scholarship, I can say, “pumped over”. The main thing - do not stop there.

See also:

5 professions for men that can be quickly mastered in the USA

5 high-paying professions in the field of beauty and how to get them

Fulbright scholarship: how to open the doors to American universities

How to get a sports scholarship in the USA

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