15. End of term.

I would like to say that this course was really useful. There are several important things which I have learned. First of all, I have learned to organize my thoughts in a logical way. We have written four essays which have had special requirements for the structure. In my view, structure is really very important part in writing essay. It helps reader to follow your ideas and just to read an essay up to the end. So, now I have some practice and know something about a proper organization of a text, and this knowledge also helps me to write essays in Russian. Secondly, I have learned to make presentations on public. It goes without saying that this skill is really one of the most important skills. We constantly have different relations with people and conversations which require for skills of communication. It is necessary to get a public attention, to be convincing and to be interesting to listen to in order to make a good presentation. It seems to me that sometimes our success depends on our skills of persuasion. So, I have learned some basic knowledge of making presentations and it has already helped me.  In my view, I have really improved my writing skills and fluency at some extent. Still, I need to work on fluency, pronunciation and grammar. I would like to enlarge my vocabulary, improve grammar and train my speaking skills next semester.

14. Shopaholic

I want to share with you my problem. I am a shopaholic. I like shopping very much! I remember about this peculiarity because very soon we will celebrate the New Year, so now I' m seeking for presents. I really enjoy making presents which make others happier. That is why I always try to choose them carefully, taking into account everyone's personalities and wishes. So, I have already spent a lot of time and money on presents, but I’ve not still prepared for celebration entirely. I also want to buy a new dress for celebrating the New Year and I want to buy also new shoes. This will be a challenging task because I don't really know what kind of dress I would like to buy so I will spend about six or seven hours going through different shops and trying on a lot of clothes. Yes, I always spend really a lot of time for shopping. It is always seems to me that if I don't see all clothes, I will definitely miss something and then I will be really disappointed that I haven’t bought this or that thing. So, I often try to compare all clothes, and only then I buy something. Of course, I have several lovely small shops but sometimes I can find something really cool in another shop, so I try to go to different shops. Unfortunately, this and next week are so busy that I won’t have enough time for my lovely way of spending time. Now I’m in a panic because I don’t know where to find time for all my duties, and, especially, for shopping. Nevertheless, I’m going to visit a Strasbourg fair, which will be opened in Moscow on 24^th of December and last till the 7^th of January. I hope that this will be a bright and exciting event. I suggest you seeing this fair. But the only wish that I have right now – is to have holidays as soon as possible! 

13. Essay

       This essay was really different from others. It was, actually, more difficult to write it, but it is a good idea that this essay is the fourth. We have already got necessary practice which helps to follow a proper structure. So, as for my essay, I think that it is well-organized and has a well- developed structure. For instance, it has an interesting statistic as attention getter, an appropriate thesis statement, topic sentences, connected with thesis statement, concluding sentences and a conclusion that summarizes all arguments. So, structure is the best thing about my essay.

       At the same time, in this essay we should have developed our argument in a special way. It was very challenging and  got a lot of time because I wanted to write an interesting essay. That is why, in my view, argumentation is a weakness in my essay. Although I wrote essay about some economic topic, I had to read a lot of new articles and some new chapters in books. I think that my arguments and sources are convincing, up- to- date and coherent. But I am not sure, that I have written them in a proper way. There are so many requirements for sources that I am afraid that I have missed something. To improve this part of my essay I should have a consultation with David or in  the writing center. 

         Moreover, skills in writing argumentative essay are really important,  and they are getting only when you have enough practice. So, it will be useful to write several argumentative essays during semester.

12. Some thoughts

Yesterday I talked to my friend Polina. She was telling me about her exciting study for about an hour. She studies at Gubkin Russian State University of Oil and Gas. Taking into account that Russia is one of the major states that export gas and oil, and that these sectors of economy is one of the most profitable in our country, I can say that this university is very prestigious. Moreover, here study children of really wealthy persons. Due to this fact the university has a lot of sponsors and can provide its students with a lot of facilities. It is a small introduction.

And now about Polina. She told me that she is one of the cleverest students on her faculty. For instance, once she did six tests (hers and five of her friends) during one lesson. She spends more hours in university than we, but she has much easier homework than we. This gives you an opportunity to be a member of group called “Gubkin television”. As she says it is very interpreting. They shoot clips about student life and sometimes advertisements for companies, for which they earn money. In addition, her teacher of microeconomics offered her to make some researches and to present them on public. She also has time for dancing, and she takes part in dancing competition among universities. All in all, she makes new acquaintances; her life is full of diverse and exciting things. I really disappointed that I can’t lead such a life. The first reason is that we have a lot of homework. The second reason is that Cultural Center of HSE is situated in another building, and it is inconvenient to go there. So, my day consists of 80% of studying and doing homework. It is really sad. I want to have bright life, full of bright emotions, whicj are not only good marks. Maybe I should change a bit my attitude to studying. But I can’t because I study at NES. The only hope is that there will be 48 hours in a day.

11. Pros and cons

Speaking about advantages and disadvantages of an unpaid internship, we should firstly weight opportunity costs and benefits. If benefits outweigh opportunity costs, we can assume that unpaid internship is worth. Otherwise, we should find another way of getting experience. Anyway, I suppose that final decision is individual and depends on many circumstances.

Personally, I partly agree with both authors. As a beginner economist I can claim that people react on stimulus. It is evident that salaries really stimulate us to work. At the same time, when students or graduates don’t get salaries they realize that they don’t bear serious responsibility for their work, so they have reasons to postpone their duties or just don’t do them in a required way. Such situations occur because workers don’t get rewards for their efforts and have a possibility to change their job in future, so they don’t think about their reputation at that temporary job.  Moreover, graduates and students often have a desire to become independent as quickly as possible. So, it isn’t a good idea for them to work free, getting support from parents. Another point is that, still, there are paid vacancies which salaries increase opportunity costs of unpaid ones.

Nevertheless, unpaid internships give an incredibly useful and valuable experience of corporate work, time-management, organization and stress.  Additionally, such practice is a valuable line in a resume and makes you more competitive in a labor market. What is more, if you have an internship in a bid and perspective company, there is a possibility to get an offer from it of full-time paid job. So, it would we beneficial to be an unpaid intern there for some time. But the other side of the coin is that frequently no one is interested in your learning and improving, so for the first time it will be challenging to cope with all obligations and duties. Such conditions give you skills of self-development.

Frankly speaking, I had a small unpaid internship this summer. Of course, I gained a lot of experience from working in office and was glad to have such an opportunity to work. It was my free will but finally I realize that it would be better if I had been given even a small reward for my work. I am sure that in this case I would work with all responsibility, and the company wouldn’t lose a lot. Taking into account  all these reasoning, I would say by all means it is necessary to have some practice or intership in order to become successful in future.

10. Cats.

In this blog I want to speak about wonderful creatures – cats. Unfortunately, I can’t have a cat or a dog because I have a signalization at home which reacts on movements. So, I dream about times when I will have a possibility to own a cat. I feel that in previous life I was a cat. I can’t really say what connection I have with cats, but I unspeakable tender feelings towards them. It is thought that cats are very independent. Nevertheless, I feel that they are even more devoted than people. I can trust them because they are sincere and not selfish. People are so spoilt that I can’t believe them while cats are very faithful. Moreover, cats are doctors and energetic source. I know plenty of examples when cats felt that their owners ware ill, lay on them and take away all unhealthy and negative emotions. Such a therapy helped a lot, and owners recovered quickly. I should also mention that cats save from loneliness. There are situations when I stay alone at home and feel absolutely uncomfortable. I want to have something or someone to take care about or just to play. As I have no brothers or sisters I could have a cat. I enjoy playing with my godmother’s cats (she has three of them) and always imagine how I would have my own lovely friend – a cat.