Lina Dayrabaeva, Frankfurt School of Finance & Management

St. Gallen is a very nice town; my first two months here were a recovery after noisy Frankfurt.

The decision to apply for a freemover program at HSG was strategic. Since I have found out the possibility to go abroad during the last semester, I chose HSG without any doubt. Later on, the topic of my master’s thesis was adjusted based on the place of study, in other words I chose private banking sector as object of my research.

I have never been to Switzerland before, that’s why I was very surprised to find out that the German type of speaking that I got used to in Frankfurt is too direct here. Thus, at first I was getting some «lost in translation» problems of misunderstanding people. Anyway, I find Swiss people very nice and kind. People in the streets are very open and keen to help.

St. Gallen is a very nice town; my first two months here were a recovery after noisy Frankfurt. Taking into account that I am originally from Moscow (a really huge city) and I am a typical urban resident, old Swiss architecture makes me think that I got into some fairy tale. I live in the city center close to Marktplatz in the best accommodation that I have ever rented. It’s a 5-room flat with just one very nice flatmate, lovely neighbours and a nice terrace on the top of the roof, where we used to grill and chill. The house belongs to a student community. This was the first time in my life I discovered such a kind of community apart from US student fraternities I saw in movies. I even had a short introduction lecture about core traditions of this community.

In order to get to know HSG students better I applied for teaching Russian conversational course. I have to admit that it turned out to be more challenging than I thought in the beginning, but nevertheless it’s fun and students enjoy my course. I’d really appreciate if some of them visit Russia afterwards and of course use language skills, which we’ve improved together here at HSG.

My favorite places in HSG are the library and the sport hall. I would say that for me these two places are interrelated. The library is the only place where I can write my thesis and prepare for lectures and after a whole day sitting it is really a pleasure for me to go to the gym. I also appreciate a wide range of different sport activities presented at HSG. I think I have already participated in 80 percent of all possible sport classes.

In the beginning, in February, I found several prisma magazines at home. At that time I’ve just flipped through all of them and after two months of study at HSG I’ve checked them again. I was really surprised to discover that in every issue I see familiar faces. Therefore I found the idea to share my impression about HSG and St. Gallen with other students via prisma really interesting.

About Lina Dayrabaeva

Home University: Frankfurt School of Finance & Management

Degree seeking: Master of Finance

Why HSG: Some good friends and colleagues of mine studied at HSG and they all gave high praise to the university. Moreover, I am writing my thesis in Private Banking therefore studying in Switzerland helps me to gather more material about my topic and at the same time improve my network in this sector.

What I want to work as: I want to be a relationship manager in private banking.


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