"Having completed my 5 – year Bachelor’s in 2008, I was not in a rush of continuing my academic journey. In 2013, I finally arrived to the thought of applying for a Master’s degree. With Nazarbayev University on the landscape of higher education institutions, I did not consider other options because the promise of world-class education was alluring. I must admit, I never doubted the choice either during or after the completion of my master’s because of how supportive were the received knowledge.
The 1-year master program was challenging and intensive but it steered me towards continuing my academic endeavors. This one-year program became an establishing platform for my pursuit of research degree in the Education University of Hong Kong. Moreover, Nazarbayev University’s Graduate School of Education was the bridge leading me to Hong Kong thanks to the partnership between the two institutions. I am truly grateful for this opportunity of both my master and PhD degrees.
As Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs at Korkyt ata Kyzylorda University I often dive back to my academic and campus experiences at Nazarbayev University. First, I find helpful the knowledge and skills obtained during the courses. To be more precise, the courses on internationalization, organizational structure and leadership particularly handy when choosing the strategies for leadership and international collaborations. Second, the courses on research methods and academic English come to mind when thinking of the ways to organize the content of academic courses for current Master students at my university.
If I could describe my experience at NU in one sentence, I would say it was transformational and future-oriented."