"Working as a teaching assistant at HSE was my first step towards my prospective career in academia"

During the third module of the 2015/2016 academic year Samrat Sil, a master’s student currently enrolled in the program in Applied and Interdisciplinary history “Usable Pasts”,  served as a teaching assistant to Professor Evgeniy A. Khvalkov for the course of History for undergraduate students pursuing their degree in management. Samrat told about an exciting experience of his first teaching assistant job:

"Life always provides us with various opportunities and interesting challenges. When one accepts such a challenge he always evolves along the course of the task and emerges victorious. I was offered the task of being a teaching assistant for the course of history for undergraduate students pursuing their bachelor’s degree in management. I decided to grab this opportunity as it would be a whole new learning experience for me.
I assisted Professor E. Khvalkov for this course and made several presentations on a broad range of historical topics which included colonization, American Revolution, Russian imperial history during the times of Peter the great and after effects of the industrial revolution on the colonies. I shared my existing knowledge of history with a huge group of students. I was overwhelmed by the response I received from the students as they became more inquisitive during the course of the study and asked questions from my presentations. The lectures were academically stimulating as Professor Khvalkov also showed the class historical movies for their better understanding of the past.
This job helped me sharpen my existing skills as a presenter and as a teacher. I even had the opportunity to ask questions to a few students during their final exam. It was my first step towards my prospective career in academia. I would gladly accept such opportunities if they are provided to me by my university in near future. I would like to thank Professor Khvalkov for showing faith in me and for supporting me throughout the course".