Elena Terekhova graduated from the MCU’s Institute of Culture and Arts with a Master’s degree in graphic design. Since 2019, Elena has been teaching students at postgraduate level.

Why did you choose to study your field at MCU?

At the age of six, I entered an art school as I have always enjoyed painting. Only after enrollment at MCU, I remembered of dreaming to become a teacher. My toys used to have their copybooks, and I taught them scrupulously. It makes me laugh now when a child’s play has come true.

Please share one of the most memorable moments of your student life.

If I collected all my best memories, I would have published a novel already. I enjoy remembering my student life. I still keep in touch with my peers and we are always glad to recall our fanciful moments. And the experience is still relevant to me. When I look at students anxious before exams, their relentlessness, their fears and successes, I feel as if I’ve returned to my student times.

Why did you decide to work at MCU after graduation?

I was hired by the university as a delivery girl when I was a second-year student. It was a part-time job, I had to deliver papers to different university buildings. Step by step, the complexity of tasks increased. I tried to contemplate on my humdrum job philosophically. For me, paperwork is a way to combat entropy, which is increasing disorder. In this way, it was easier for me to complete the tasks.

What do you like most about your current job?

I like meeting new students each year, notice how they change, how different their mindsets are. It is very inspiring. Surely, sometimes there are troublesome students, we face conflicts. But these challenges are necessary for professional development.

One more noticeable point is the wonderful teaching staff we have at MCU. Faculty members are all very different and each of them requires a special approach. I admire my colleagues and enjoy working with them. The MCU campus has become my second home where I would always want to return, where I feel comfortable and that my colleagues need me.

What are your professional aspirations?

I wish I had more teaching load, interaction with students and less paperwork. I know that it needs to be done, however I hope that they will give me more teaching hours. Teaching is a unique experience, which cannot be compared to anything else. When explaining my discipline to students, I acquire a new perspective on it, their questions trigger a flow of questions inside my mind, I try to inspire them and they share their energy with me in return. This is a most remarkable process.