Coming To An End
May has been quite an exciting and busy month. On May 10th, I completed my ballet state (Гос) exam. The third course exams are the biggest, most challenging exams of the entire school year. I am very proud of how my classmates, and friends, did. The hard work that we put into each ballet class really paid off. On the day of the ballet exam, I decided to make a video (a vlog) for the day. It is posted on my YouTube channel, and I will also attach it below.
Not long after the ballet exam, on May 15, we had the character exam. This was the final dance exam for us. The days leading up to this day were very tiring, but we wanted to show our best in what would be our last exam as Bolshoi Ballet Academy students. After the exam, we were all extremely happy, but also sad that our time as a class was coming to an end. To celebrate, we all went to a nearby restaurant. This was the first time that every person in the class was together all at once!
The next day, May 16, I had a photo shoot with Darian Volkova. I had such a wonderful time at this shoot, and I even wore the exact same leotard that Iana Salenko wore!!! After the shoot, I went to Grishko with my friend, Sofia, and then I had a video chat with my university counselor when I got back.
On May 17, I started my regular Russian language exams, and on May 21, I started my TRKI first certificate exams. The TRKI, or TORFL (Test of Russian as a Foreign Language), is a set of exams that test the language proficiency of non-native Russian speakers. There are 6 Russian proficiency levels: elementary level (A1), basic level (A2), first certification level (B1), second certification level (B2), third certification level (C1), and fourth certification level (C2). The Russian Ministry of Education and Science supervises this test, and each level goes along with the Common European Framework of References for Languages. Just like my regular Russian exams, the TORFL test includes a grammar, listening, writing, speaking, and reading exam. On Monday, May 21, I started Russian exams at 9:00 am (starting with my regular Russian class exams). At 10:55, I started the TRKI exams, and I finished for the day at around 16:45. The next day I started at 9, and I was done around 12:15.
To read more about the TRKI exams, click here:
https://ruslanguage.ru/courses/torfl/
http://russian-test.com/tests/torfl/
I have also been working on getting ready for next year as a university student. On Tuesday, May 22, I completed the university placement test for math. During high school, I have completed four years of math (I wanted to do one extra) in three years- so I have not taken any math classes for over a year. Only having wanted to place in a freshman level class, I was quite surprised when I saw I had placed into the highest level of classes I could place into (all sophomore level classes)!
May 28 I met up with me roommate from my very first year at the Academy, Tala Lee-Turton, at Fresh. I haven't seen her since last school year, so I was very excited to catch up and make some summer plans!
The next day (today, May 29) I met with my friend Deborah and a friend of hers who is visiting Moscow. We met up at a cafe near the academy, caught up, made some plans for a future photo shoot, and walked around a bit.
That is pretty much all that has happened in May, and I do not have anything planned for the last two days of May. I do, however, want to wish all of my amazing friends who have their exams during these last two days good luck!
I also wanted to say that I will be keeping up my blogs after I have graduated, but I will be making changes. Whether I will change the format of this blog or create an all new one has not yet been decided, but I will let you know in next month's post! And speaking of next month's post, I will also be going more into depth about my plans for next year. Right now, I am planning out my freshman year with my mom, and it is looking great! The only reason I am not sharing all the details now is because we are still figuring out some details ourselves and the plans are not all set in stone.
The one thing I do want to explain just a little bit more is my education next year. I was accepted to all 7 universities that I applied to, and in the end, after deciding between Penn State and Oregon State University, I have decided to enrol at OSU. This coming fall, I will be a business major student. During my time at OSU, I will be working towards a B.A. in business administration 100% online. The degree I will receive will be exactly the same an an on-ground student, the only difference is that I will be able to work towards it in my setting of choice. There are a few reasons as to why I chose to do online university. One of these reasons is simply because I excel in online learning. While I have always received very good grades as an on-ground student, once I switched to fully online school, I have consistently received straight A's. Another reason I chose online is the flexibility. By being able to choose when I want to do school, I will be able to have the ability to make time for other things I want to do. This brings me to my third, and most important, reason- travel. Growing up, I would constantly ask my mom to tell me her travel stories over and over again, which I still do. Hearing about her time studying at Oxford University, and taking spontaneous trips throughout Europe, going to sleep in one country and waking up in another, filled me with wanderlust. (Perhaps I should post her stories sometime!?) If I were to have chosen to be an on-ground student, I would have, in a sense, felt trapped. Now, I will have the ability to travel, both internationally and domestically, and I could not be more excited!
Thank you to all those who read through this whole post!
XOXO,
Louisa
Not long after the ballet exam, on May 15, we had the character exam. This was the final dance exam for us. The days leading up to this day were very tiring, but we wanted to show our best in what would be our last exam as Bolshoi Ballet Academy students. After the exam, we were all extremely happy, but also sad that our time as a class was coming to an end. To celebrate, we all went to a nearby restaurant. This was the first time that every person in the class was together all at once!
The next day, May 16, I had a photo shoot with Darian Volkova. I had such a wonderful time at this shoot, and I even wore the exact same leotard that Iana Salenko wore!!! After the shoot, I went to Grishko with my friend, Sofia, and then I had a video chat with my university counselor when I got back.
On May 17, I started my regular Russian language exams, and on May 21, I started my TRKI first certificate exams. The TRKI, or TORFL (Test of Russian as a Foreign Language), is a set of exams that test the language proficiency of non-native Russian speakers. There are 6 Russian proficiency levels: elementary level (A1), basic level (A2), first certification level (B1), second certification level (B2), third certification level (C1), and fourth certification level (C2). The Russian Ministry of Education and Science supervises this test, and each level goes along with the Common European Framework of References for Languages. Just like my regular Russian exams, the TORFL test includes a grammar, listening, writing, speaking, and reading exam. On Monday, May 21, I started Russian exams at 9:00 am (starting with my regular Russian class exams). At 10:55, I started the TRKI exams, and I finished for the day at around 16:45. The next day I started at 9, and I was done around 12:15.
To read more about the TRKI exams, click here:
https://ruslanguage.ru/courses/torfl/
http://russian-test.com/tests/torfl/
I have also been working on getting ready for next year as a university student. On Tuesday, May 22, I completed the university placement test for math. During high school, I have completed four years of math (I wanted to do one extra) in three years- so I have not taken any math classes for over a year. Only having wanted to place in a freshman level class, I was quite surprised when I saw I had placed into the highest level of classes I could place into (all sophomore level classes)!
May 28 I met up with me roommate from my very first year at the Academy, Tala Lee-Turton, at Fresh. I haven't seen her since last school year, so I was very excited to catch up and make some summer plans!
The next day (today, May 29) I met with my friend Deborah and a friend of hers who is visiting Moscow. We met up at a cafe near the academy, caught up, made some plans for a future photo shoot, and walked around a bit.
That is pretty much all that has happened in May, and I do not have anything planned for the last two days of May. I do, however, want to wish all of my amazing friends who have their exams during these last two days good luck!
I also wanted to say that I will be keeping up my blogs after I have graduated, but I will be making changes. Whether I will change the format of this blog or create an all new one has not yet been decided, but I will let you know in next month's post! And speaking of next month's post, I will also be going more into depth about my plans for next year. Right now, I am planning out my freshman year with my mom, and it is looking great! The only reason I am not sharing all the details now is because we are still figuring out some details ourselves and the plans are not all set in stone.
The one thing I do want to explain just a little bit more is my education next year. I was accepted to all 7 universities that I applied to, and in the end, after deciding between Penn State and Oregon State University, I have decided to enrol at OSU. This coming fall, I will be a business major student. During my time at OSU, I will be working towards a B.A. in business administration 100% online. The degree I will receive will be exactly the same an an on-ground student, the only difference is that I will be able to work towards it in my setting of choice. There are a few reasons as to why I chose to do online university. One of these reasons is simply because I excel in online learning. While I have always received very good grades as an on-ground student, once I switched to fully online school, I have consistently received straight A's. Another reason I chose online is the flexibility. By being able to choose when I want to do school, I will be able to have the ability to make time for other things I want to do. This brings me to my third, and most important, reason- travel. Growing up, I would constantly ask my mom to tell me her travel stories over and over again, which I still do. Hearing about her time studying at Oxford University, and taking spontaneous trips throughout Europe, going to sleep in one country and waking up in another, filled me with wanderlust. (Perhaps I should post her stories sometime!?) If I were to have chosen to be an on-ground student, I would have, in a sense, felt trapped. Now, I will have the ability to travel, both internationally and domestically, and I could not be more excited!
Thank you to all those who read through this whole post!
XOXO,
Louisa
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