Fellow:Vasilisa Ragulina
|
|
Bio
Hii! My name is Vasilisa Ragulina and I hate my last name but it is a more or less official text after all. I was born and raised in Moscow, Russia, but on the verge of 17, I moved to Germany and spent two years in an international boarding school there, receiving an IB Diploma among people from 95+ countries. Moving countries was not adventurous enough, so I decided to hop continents and moved to upstate New York to pursue my undergraduate degree in Architectural Studies with a minor in Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Ithaca College. Life on the move left time with more flight tickets, than the tabletop cutlery of a stable household, however, I would never choose to exchange this chaos for stability. Through going out of my comfort zone and accepting challenges, I was able to meet so many incredible people, learn in depth about different cultures, understand myself better, and start to create an impact on the world. What I just enlisted, serves as my inspiration and purpose.
Currently, I am in my Sophomore year studying hard and working on two part-time jobs. My first position is as an Admission Host. I work closely with the Office of Admissions and interact with prospective students and their families. Essentially, my job is to welcome and greet the visitors and invite them to pick into the genuine and unfiltered life of Ithaca College. What I love about my job is the opportunity to connect with so many brilliant young adults and help them make what some people call "the most important decision of one's life" aka choose their college. It is challenging to always stay energetic and welcoming, especially when I am having a bad day, but it teaches me to connect with people on a deeper level and find joy in little things. My second job is being a Peer Career Advisor. I am only starting this semester, but I am excited to be able to provide career services to my peers and help them secure the job of their dreams. So far one of the greatest things about this job is meeting multifaceted and high individuals, however, the most rewarding part is giving inspiration to those, who are a little bit lost on their way to achieving their goals or believing in themselves.
Apart from my academic, and work experiences, I am one of those people who are always somewhere doing something. I claim that I love my room and spend a lot of time there, while in reality my housemates rarely see me. I highly value volunteering experiences. Going from teaching kids English and German in Freiburg im Breisgau to helping at the State Theater in Ithaca, my volunteering experience allowed me to achieve a deeper understanding of the community that I am a part of and allowed me to share the skills I was privileged to develop. On a more general note, every time I hear about an event or see a posting on the bulletin boards in my school, as long as I have time I show up, even if the event itself is out of my character. At this point expanding my boundaries and escaping my comfort zone has become my number too hobby. Number one is still skiing.
While I navigate through my Sophomore year with two part-time jobs and a calendar that looks like a color-coded disaster, I am continuously inspired by the diverse and amazing people that I meet along the way through classes, activities, and volunteering. I am driven by the passion for exploration and self-development, so I want to finish the intro to my story with Cheers or Prost or Za Zdorovye to the adventurous lifestyle!
Achievements
I got a gold medal for academies excellence in my first high school, although I am not too proud of that, since I hold the outside of classroom learning to a higher regard. I am also a United World Colleges Scholar which means that I graduated from one of the UWC schools, that apart of the rigorous curriculum is trying to cause a positive impact ton the world and is striving to unite people regardless of their background. I am a founder of Crochet club on campus and I have a green belt in Judo.
Social media profiles
my instagram is https://www.instagram.com/vakkalini/?hl=en
Related links
