What Does the Overseas Hold?

A Kazakh Generation Striving for a Better Education

 

“More than 45,000 Kazakh students are studying abroad,” claimed Tengrinews in one of their popular articles. Students scatter around the world to places like Russia, USA, UK, UAE etc. to receive top quality education outside of Kazakhstan.

 

Being one of the 45,000 young adults, I can say that my own experience is filled with the opinions and reflections I have made over the past 9 years of my life. Going back to September 2009 when I moved to the United Arab Emirates, Dubai, and started Grade 2, I was young and did not know English except “hello” and a few other basic phrases.

 

I could say that a lot of the things that I have learned throughout the growing up stage of my life came from an international point of view, and overtime I started forgetting words in Russian. 99% of my friends were all international, until I started developing Russian speaking friends out of my school, around Grade 8. The mentality of the russian speaking community differs to the rest of the world, regarding their outlook and intake of things and situations. After that point in my life my perspectives, behavior, and mindset started to change to be more alike with the Russian-speaking community. This was a constructive turn in my life because I felt like I was reconnecting with my home country and I could relate more to people back home.

 

In the Summer of 2017, I became more aware of my own country, including its politics, economy, nature, it’s people, and everything in general. I had more time to go to different places and different cities within Kazakhstan where I enjoyed myself and became really proud of who I am and where I am from.

It was not until 2017 when I moved to Singapore, when I become more patriotic about my country than I ever was before. In Dubai there was a lot of diversity, yet it was not celebrated as much as it is in comparison to Singapore. In UWCSEA I was more keen to tell everyone where I was from and wear a t-shirt with my country’s name on it. I became more aware of my country and how it shaped my identity.

 

I have not taken Russian as a language class since around 2010, which left me with my family and family friends being the only source of Russian practice I would get. I never lost the language because it is the only language in which I speak to my family, yet my grammar and spelling was very weak. This academic year I took Russian as a class and at the moment it is probably my most enjoyable class. It helps me make connections and learn about the literary side of history in the Soviet Union.

 

Due to my family moving out of Kazakhstan when I was still young, I never felt like I had anything to relate to with other children whenever I visited for holiday, and this made me feel excluded and frustrated with the fact that I no longer knew the same things they did. Sometimes I would wish I never moved from Kazakhstan, yet I still knew that without the move I would not be who I am today.

 

My own experiences, of course, depended on my personality, family background, and personal perspectives so therefore everyone who is studying abroad will have different thoughts on this matter.

 

USA is a popular destination for students who want high quality education, including Leyla Daulet, 15. Leyla lives in New York with her family, doing online schooling from Dwight and taking a grade 10 course.

 

“Education outside of Kazakhstan absolutely gave me more opportunities. It exposed me to different people all over the world”, said Leyla.

 

She decided to express herself through the use of instagram blogging, and her followers grow by the day. The young aspiring blogger finds it easier to achieve her goals in a city like New York. She says, “My goals for example revolved around social media, music, and fashion. The US is practically the home of all them and it is definitely one of the centers of the world”.

 

Aidana Orynbassar is a Kazakh citizen studying abroad for her 7th year. She graduated from UWCSEA, Singapore, and is currently doing BA Liberal Arts in King’s College London, on her 3rd year.

 

Aidana believes that she “would not change anything because that is how it was meant to be”. It opened up her “creative side”.

 

Some positive changes Aidana experience and shared with us were, “I definitely became more independent! I also learned how to cook well and just take care of myself during hard times”.

In UWCSEA East there are around 15 students of Kazakh nationality, 85% of them being boarding students. Aida Appaz, 17, is one of them, who joined the school when she was in Grade 10 FIB.

 

“When we come back from Kazakhstan, we always bring kazakh chocolate, kurt, and everything to share with the people here. We celebrated Nauryz and had traditional food last year”, says Aida. “It was really fun to share our tradition with other people”.

 

The majority of the interviewees had explained that they wanted to move back to Kazakhstan after completing university outside of the country.

 

“In Singapore everything is very developed, and I want to apply the knowledge I received here, to further develop and help Kazakhstan in doing the same”, Aida Appaz.

 

With students studying abroad and acquiring knowledge that they would not be able to acquire within Kazakhstan, could be a great help in further developing the country. The greater part of the Kazakh population are proud and patriotic, making many of people overseas feel compelled to return to Kazakhstan after their studies.

 

If more of the community will have higher education, the rate at which the country will be developing will increase, as currently it is in the middle of developed and developing countries. That could easily be changed with the new generations having many more educational and social opportunities.

 

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One thought on “What Does the Overseas Hold?”

  1. There is an underlying sense of yearning and longing throughout your article. It moves me. I would love to understand the things that you miss most — the sights, smells and sounds unique to your homeland. And how a memory of them makes your heart stir or ache, or your soul soar. And so I would recommend that rather than have many interviews, you deep dive into one and let this person’s story mirror your own yearning for home; and your dreams to give back when you return. You are a story-teller, Tomi. Don’t be afraid to tell your stories from your heart.

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