–says Guyanese who graduates from Russia’s Friendship University

By Svetlana Marshall

“Don’t ever succumb to a little challenge, the harder the battle – the sweeter the victory,” 27-year-old Patricia Anthony said as she offered a word of advice from a distant country.Anthony, a Lindener by birth, is among five Guyanese students who were offered an opportunity to fulfill their academic dreams at the People’s Friendship University of Russia, compliments of the Bauxite Company of Guyana (BCGI).

After five long years of intense studying, Anthony was the lone Guyanese and CARICOM national to have graduated from the People’s Friendship University of Russia on July 30, 2016.
She graduated with a Bachelor of Economics in Finance and Credit. Her colleagues Kiefer Bacchus, Tenesha LesFlores, Kollis Smith and Dendre McGarrel will complete their studies in 2017 and 2018.
But the former Mackenzie High School (MHS) student is not ready to come home just yet – she has decided to seize yet another opportunity to make herself even more marketable.
Come September, Anthony will return to the People’s Friendship University of Russia to move onto the next level — to do her Master’s in Economics. But the big question is: Will she specialise in Finance Management or Business Management?
“I am still stuck between the decision of ‘Finance Management’ or ‘Business Management.’ Finance Management would be an ideal specialty but I’ve always had great interest in Business Management. One day in the not too distant future I wish to have my own business, and Business Management would be of absolute value to me. So even though I haven’t completely decided, come September it’s very likely that I’ll be pursuing Business Management,” Anthony told Guyana Chronicle during an online interview while sitting in her room in Moscow.
CHALLENGES
While it is a ‘blessing’ to study in Russia, she said the journey has been one of many challenges as she alluded to the change in the weather pattern and the initial language barrier when she first arrived in September 2011.
“The journey has been tough from the very beginning. When we arrived in Russia during autumn, so it was already cold, the leaves had already fallen from the trees and the skies were always a gloomy grey, it made me feel sad every time I looked outside. The biggest challenge was the cold followed by the language,” she said.
After the first year, she had gotten use to the language but the winters were still “brutal.”
“Even after five years, I still don’t think I can say I’m used to it,” she posited.
However, after one year of trying to master the art of speaking Russian, the former MHS student commenced her studies in Economics.
“The first two years were just general economics I would say; the most valued courses were Micro and Macro Economics. At the end of second year, we had to choose our desired specialty, for me it was “finance and credit”, and that’s where the courses got more specific,” she explained.
Finance, Finance Management, Market Stocks and Bonds were among the courses Anthony would have done as she pursued her Degree in Economics which included both theoretical and practical knowledge.
However, in her final year, she focused on Guyana’s Monetary Policy as she crafted her thesis. Dubbed “Monetary Policy in Guyana,” Anthony successfully drew an analysis between the policies in Guyana – a third world country and those of Russia – a developed nation.
NEVER GIVE UP
As she prepares to start another chapter in her ‘book of life,’ the Russian-based Guyanese are telling young people like herself “never to give up.”
“Don’t ever succumb to a little challenge – the harder the battle, the sweeter the victory. It has been one battle after the other for me, bad living conditions, prejudice teachers, harsh weather, language and culture barrier. But it’s not until you’ve reached the end, the wonderful feeling you get makes you realise that if you had to do it all over again the same way, you would, because it was absolutely worth it,” she said with a feeling of accomplishment.
“Stay focused and reach for your goals. When you add your stars to your crown, no one can take them away!” Anthony added.
Her mother, Grace Craig, who recently returned home after visiting Russia to witness her daughter’s graduation, told Guyana Chronicle she feels a sense of pride and joy.
“I am proud of her and the decision she has taken to go even higher to complete her master’s,” Craig said, as she sang praises to the Almighty.
“We are backing them all the way, not just Patricia but all the other Guyanese students and Caribbean nationals studying in Russia. It is not easy for them you know, they leave their homes and adapt to what they have in Russia, it is a struggle but it is a sacrifice and at the end of it all, they will be proud of themselves and we will be proud of them,” she added.
Craig said she hopes that, BCGI, which forms part of Russian aluminum company RUSAL, will continue to offer scholarships to other Guyanese.