Yesterday, on April 6, the Youth Patriotic Forum of the Union State Memory of Generations started at the Belarusian National Technical University. A delegation from the Ural Federal University named after the first President of Russia, B. N. Yeltsin, arrived at the leading technical university in Belarus to strengthen partnerships, exchange experience in youth policy, educational and scientific activities, and explore the cultural and historical heritage of our country.
The forum participants, students and their escorts, were greeted by Timur Matyushinets, Vice-Rector for Ideological and Educational Work, Irina Gud, Head of the Center for Ideological Work and Youth Affairs, Oksana Smolskaya, Head of the Department for Ideological and Educational Work at the Center for Ideological Work and Youth Affairs, and Alexander Malashko, Chairman of the Student Council.
In his speech, Timur Vladimirovich emphasized that the collaboration would open up new horizons for sharing advanced methods of organizing and conducting events.
— I think you will have something to talk about with our representatives of the student council, the Belarusian Republican Youth Union, and the primary trade union organization of students, and you can exchange views and best practices for organizing events. Our youth organizations will have something to highlight in the organization of the Student of the Year competition. In general, you can expect a rich program with a patriotic focus.
Later, the students of the Russian university visited the exhibition in the Hall of Glory Museum, which features the university's symbols and the achievements of its students and employees.
The next stop on the route was the National Memorial Complex "Temple-Monument in Honor of All Saints and in Memory of the Victims Who Served to Save Our Fatherland," where the students explored the architecture and decoration of the main cathedral and visited the crypt. During the tour, the students learned the importance of knowing the heroes of the past and present in order to create a peaceful future.
The day's program concluded with a psychological game called "Bridges of Friendship," where the students got to know each other better.
The first impressions of the guests from Yekaterinburg were the most sincere. The students actively shared their emotions: they liked the atmosphere of the student town, the openness of the Belarusian students, and the warm welcome.
Yulia Fedyakova, a student at the Ural Federal University, admitted that Belarus was wider than she had expected, both literally and figuratively.
— This is our first time in Belarus. We came here by train, with two transfers. As soon as we got off the train, we felt a different atmosphere than in Russia, with wider streets. When you leave the university, you immediately find yourself in the city center. You've just been studying and now you're back to your normal life. When we arrived, we met with the university's administration and were very grateful for the warm welcome. Everyone was very kind. Everything was well-organized and genuine.
Alisa Khlostystova noticed the unique atmosphere at BNTU, which was both calm and student-oriented.
— The state is calm, but your guys are charged, open, very nice, pleasant. It's amazing and cool for us that a certain fenced area with courtyards has been allocated for buildings. We don't have enough of this in the city. You also have two main locations — here and on Borisov Highway. It's like a different life: a separate student body and the rest of the city.
The visit of the Ural Federal University delegation to BNTU is just beginning. The guests' program will last until April 9, and they will have a busy schedule of excursions to the Stalin Line historical and cultural complex, the Belarusian State Museum of Folk Architecture and Everyday Life, the Khatyn Memorial Complex, the Museum of the History of the Great Patriotic War, as well as workshops and a roundtable discussion on the exchange of youth practices.
The arrival of students from Yekaterinburg is a clear example of the strengthening of ties between the youth of Belarus and Russia. Such meetings give rise to friendship, enrich us with experience, and prove that the shared memory of generations unites us, and our shared future is built on genuine interest in each other.
