13.02.2015

In year 2013 I was lucky to become a scholar of Yerzhan Tatishev`s Foundation., which gave me a great opportunity to study in the best business university in Kazakhstan – Almaty Management University. Now I am the second year student with “Finance” specialization.

In September, 2014 I got a chance to study for a one semester in France by the exchange program. I studied in one of the best business schools in France – IESEG School of Management in Lille city. It was the first time when I was so far from home for a long time. First days my parents worried a lot that the next 4 months we will not see each other, but I worried that the next 4 months I will have to live alone. Actually, it was not very hard to live there, because there were about 10 Kazakhstan citizens, and Lekerov Mukhtar, the Foundation scholar year 2012, was one of them. Therefore the semester was not as hard as I expected, but, of course, not without difficulties.

First of all, France impressed me with its educational system and methods of study. I understood one important thing – French people are practicians. Almost all subjects were followed by projects, which required analyzing and working with reports of different companies. Actually, such methods helped perfectly to understand the material, which we studied on lectures.  In France teachers stress the attention on group projects, that is why I got a huge experience in group projects with representatives from France, China, India, and Italy. The assessment score generally depended on final exam, midterm and class participation. The last point was not very important in Kazakhstan. I also got an experience in preparation of presentations: minimum of text, more statistics and explanations. I studied different subjects, which helped me to understand and find a common language with various cultures, gave me an opportunity to think widely. I am sure that now I will use these skills in international business.

Volunteering in France is on the high level, therefore me and Mukhtar tried to participate in various events. Firstly, I would like to emphasize that almost on all events we tried to tell about Kazakhstan. Thus, we presented Kazakhstan on International Gala Night 2014 in our University. We were also involved in project, where volunteers from different countries attended schools and helped pupils with English and told about their own country and culture.

To conclude, I would like to recommend our dear scholars year 2014 and all future generations to go abroad by exchange programs. This trip has totally changed my outlook on life. Also I would like to express my gratitude to Yerzhan Tatishev`s Foundation and Almaty Management University for giving me such opportunity.

Nurlybek Musatayev

The Scholar of Yerzhan Tatishev`s Foundation, year 2013

The 2^nd year student of Almaty Management University