Student Brigades

After finishing my first year at KSTA in 2009, I was looking for a paid summer job. The administration of the Academy offered me to join a student construction team “Slavyana” of 11 girls at Ural Federal University named after the first President of Russia B.N. Yeltsin in Yekaterinburg. I agreed. While my initial goal was to only make some money, the trip turned out to be the best summer of my life: full of joy, friendship, creativity, and adventures. Our brigade worked as plasterers and painters in an area where a new apartment complex was built. After work, in the evenings, we met with female and male construction teams from other schools and spent time together. All teams had a name, uniform, logotype, and traditions and I liked learning about them. When I returned home from Yekaterinburg in late August, I could not wait for the next year trip :)

After my second summer with the Yekaterinburg brigade, I decided to form a female student construction team at KSTA to provide other girls with an opportunity to learn about the movement. I named it “Yuventa”, designed a logotype, made printouts, and started to attract prospective team members. Soon, a group of 12 students was formed. I organized their professional skills training as plasterers and painters and got us a job within the All-Russian Student Construction Project “Akademicheskiy” in Yekaterinburg. 

In Summer 2011, Yuventa and other student brigades came to participate in the construction and compete for becoming the most efficient, disciplined, and creative team. My brigade was well built and prepared. We all shared a common purpose, respect, and trust. In 7 weeks, Yuventa demonstrated the best performance on the construction site and various inter-team events and won the competition. That was another unforgettable summer.

Reflection: The Russian Student Brigades movement was not only an opportunity to make money, but it was also a great school of manual labor, teamwork, friendship, and leadership. I was very happy to discover the movement for myself and be able to share it with many others. Since 2011, Yuventa is still functioning at KSTA attracting students by its history and traditions.