1. Tell us about yourself, please.
My name is Igboanugo Somadila Annastatia, a girl from Imo State in Nigeria.
I graduated from Godfirst International Secondary School in Abia State and passed the WAEC with 6As and 3 B2s in 2014.
I got into Imo State University in 2015 and by my second year, I wrote the federal government scholarship exam and won the bilateral education agreement scholarship (BEA) between Russia and Nigeria to study General Medicine and Surgery in Russia.
In 2016, I resumed my studies at Rostov State Medical University in Russia. I did a one-year Russian language course and 6 years of medical school, making it a total of 7 years.
In June 2023, I graduated with first-class honours and a GPA of 5.0/5.0 from Rostov State Medical University.
2. Would you advise anyone to come to Russia to study if they are considering it?
Yes, this is because studying in Russia exposes one to other opportunities and allows one to dream bigger. Getting to learn another language is also a plus to one’s CV. Russia is considerably cheap as compared to other bigger countries like the USA, UK, Canada, Australia etc where you would have to pay through your nose just to graduate.
Russia currently allows foreign students to work just like other countries. Once you navigate through the language difficulties, you will enjoy your studies in Russia. Russia gives a total of 15,000 scholarship slots yearly to different countries around the globe, so they are pretty generous in terms of education.
3. Graduating with a 5.0 in medicine is not an easy feat. Was it always your dream to finish with a first class?
I love excellence and so I like giving out my best in anything I decide to do.
Graduating with first-class honours and a GPA of 5.0 is something I desired, so I worked towards it with the determination to achieve my goal. And of course with God by my side, I did it.
I asked a lot of questions while I was still in the foundation year, questions like: ‘How can one graduate with a red diploma? How can you read and understand Russian textbooks? How can you prove to teachers that you are not dumb?’
So my curiosity really helped as well. I believe in the saying, “If you want something, ask for it.”
4. What was life like as a foreigner in Russia? Did you ever feel like this was a barrier to your goals?
Life in Russia for me was bitter-sweet. There were good days and bad days. My first year in medical school was the hardest year for me in Russia, because I didn’t understand 50% of what the teachers were saying. I would get back to my hostel, eat and start studying.
I also did lots of translations from Russian to English. It was not easy but with time reading and understanding got better. If one is not patient, one could give up in the first year but I thank God for grace and favour.
Life as a foreigner in Russia was not a barrier to my goals, rather it gave me room to dream and aspire more. Some of the things I’m able to do now was because I came to Russia.
Russia gave me a broader entrance.
5. What other challenges did you face? Would you care to share some?
Apart from the language difficulties I had while in school, I met some strange teachers, teachers that think that a foreigner should not be getting more than a grade B. I had to prove myself over and over again to them, to show them that I’m not dumb.
There were some financial challenges due to the delay of stipends from my government. Sorry, I forgot to add that I was a scholarship student.
I also missed home- my family, and my friends in Nigeria. This didn’t take a toll on me because I believe that there are days when you would need to fight your battles alone in order to achieve your dreams.
6. Were you in constant communication with your family back home? How did they influence you on your path to finishing with honours?
Yeah, I often spoke to them on the phone. Having a family is really cool, you would get to tell them things that worry you. There is a sort of relief that comes from talking about worries. So I would say that my family was there to support me emotionally.
7. Did you have mentors and people you looked up to who influenced you positively?
Academically my number one mentor was the Director of my secondary school, Engr Gilbert Uche Madu who is late now. I admired the fact that he was so brilliant and he taught us Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics. I just wanted to know as much as he did.
He often did impromptu tests for us and gave prizes to the highest scorer, this motivated me to study harder so as to win his prizes. This very act made me take my studies seriously and I have continued on that path.
Here in Russia, I met really cool people who were ahead of me in the medical profession, so I get to ask them questions when I’m confused about anything regarding medicine.
8. How was your relationship with Africans here in Russia? Did you get the needed support from the people around you?
My relationship with Africans here in Russia was cool. The Africans here are always there to help out when you need them. I consider myself lucky to find people that I could share the same values with. So yeah, my relationship with the African community was awesome.
9. Any tips for our readers on how to stay focused and how to achieve such great success just like you?
Everyone wants to be successful but is it everyone that wants to put in the work? If you want something good, you need to put in the work.
Staying focused is a decision. You would have to cut down on having fun, social media, and any other distractions and try to focus. Be very time conscious.
Buy the things that you need for your success. For example, if you are a student, you would need an iPad or a laptop for your soft-copy books.
Also, eat well, exercise, and sleep well. This is because you need good health for all your endeavours.
You would need lots of determination to keep running on the track because a lot of discouraging moments will come but that determination that you have will keep you going no matter how many times you fail.
Sometimes you might be the only one left on the track, many that you resumed with got tired and gave up, but remind yourself of your goal and keep going.
You don’t need to be perfect in order to aim very high, you can aim very high with what you have. Never limit yourself. I am not perfect at speaking the Russian language but I graduated with 5.0 and you can too.
