What do young Moscow residents do: they teach, rescue and conquer space

Moscow can rightly be called a young megalopolis. One in every five residents is aged 14 to 30, at present 2.5 million young people live in the city.

On Russian Youth Day, which is marked on 27 June, young Moscow residents who have already reached success in their careers told mos.ru how they save lives, conquer space, teach and treat people as well about the hardships they faced on the way to their dream job.  

Valeria Melnikova, 24, aerospace systems engineer

Valeria Melnikova, a doctoral student at the Bauman Moscow State Technical University (MSTU), had a dream to study at the famous university. 

“I was keen on studying at Bauman University as it is Russia’s best technical college, our pride and joy. When I was at school, they told me a lot about it and set it as an example.  I have always preferred technical sciences, I really loved Math,” Valeria says.

She tried to get accepted there using her results from a national knowledge contest but was not admitted. Luckily, her Unified State Exam scores were high enough for her to be accepted.

“My major was aerospace systems. My lecturers got me intrigued in it while I was an undergrad student. Many people used to say that studying will be very hard but it appeared to be well within my power, it was even fun to do. When you think you can’t learn something and then pass an exam in it, it is a great motivation,” Valeria explains.

She has been engaged with the MSTU’s youth space centre projects since her third year at the university and is currently working on designing nano satellites.

“They are small-size satellites 10 by 10 by 15 centimetres for studying the sun,” Valeria explains. “We design the satellites ourselves, then send the drawings to the plant where they design the parts that we then subsequently assemble. We also design all service systems – geo-location, power supply and radio communication. We perform the complete cycle from manufacturing to running tests.”

As early as July, two nano satellites sealed in a special container will be sent to a space launch pad. They are scheduled for launch this autumn. The space probes will record different parameters of the sun and space weather and will transmit the data to the MSTU control centre where students will then process them. 

In 2018 three members of the youth space centre were recipients of Moscow Government prizes for young scientists to conduct research on the use of a solar sail in nano satellites. This device helps control the probes with the help of the sun’s electromagnetic radiation. A grant of 1.5 million roubles was allocated toward the production of these nano satellites, which are currently awaiting their voyage to the cosmodrome. 

“Some people are shocked to learn what specialty I have and what it is I do for a living. Some lecturers, for instance, still believe that it is useless to teach girls since they would never go to work at a factory. But they are all different – some are ready to share knowledge, while others still cling to their prejudices. The head of our centre is a woman, this fact also affected me,” Valeria stressed. 

In her free time the young woman studies foreign languages and loves travelling – she has already been to over 20 countries. She has also been on a number of the trips as a delegation member to scientific conferences. 

Vladislav Morenkov, 23, firefighter

Since childhood, Vladislav Morenkov has always wanted to help others. This was partially predetermined for him as the young man’s relatives worked as medics, rescuers and firefighters. The final decision about his future job was made after a family’s friend’s tragic death. 

“In 2010, when I was in the seventh grade, all the news channels reported the death of the Head of Moscow’s Fire Service, Yevgeny Chernyshev.  This was a crucial moment in my life, after which I decided to become a firefighter or rescuer, to help people,” Vladislav Morenkov said.

After completing nine years of studies in school the young man enrolled in the Technical Fire and Rescue College named after Hero of the Russian Federation, V.Maximchyuk. But it was not an easy thing – the family was keen on Vladislav’s choosing a quieter vocation, like medical school, for instance. After his army service, Vladislav showed up at Unit 215 of the Moscow Fire and Rescue Centre where to this day he continues to work. 

“I had many offers to join the police or the Russian National Guard but I made a firm decision that I want to ply my trade as a firefighter and rescuer,” said Vladislav. 

The fire and rescue unit responds not only to fires but also to serious incidents and road accidents. The unit helps the police or ambulance crews, for example, to unjar doors in emergencies. These specialists really risk their lives sometimes and Vladislav Morenkov does not deny that sometimes his work is scary.

“There is a human aspect to this work. It would be unusual if a person was absolutely fearless. But when you are doing your job, you try to shed all that and do it with at the highest level, professionally, quickly and safely. I think over my actions beforehand: what might happen and how can I avoid trouble,” Vladislav stressed. 

In his free time the young man does sport, diving and mountaineering.

“My hobbies are rather helpful for my job. They also include stressful situations I need to cope with. And of course, you I must always be fit,” Vladislav Morenkov added. 

The young firefighter takes part in professional contests both by himself and as part of a team. Vladislav believes that such competitions are a great chance to test-run his skills and share professional experience.

Maria Golovina, 25, teacher

Maria Golovina decided on her future job when she was in the eighth grade. She now teaches English and French at School No. 1466 named after Nadezhda Rusheva, where she herself graduated from.  

“I was watching the teachers who taught me. Their professionalism and work attitude enthused me to choose this profession,” Maria said. 

“My family and teachers were worried because one must be stress-resistant, that issues may arise during the work process…but I chose not listen to anyone and I have no regrets about this,” Maria Golovina said.  

After school she entered the Moscow Pedagogical State University and after getting her Bachelor’s degree began working in the field of her degree. She admits that it was hard in the beginning, including maintaining classroom discipline.

“It was not easy to build up a sturdy inner frame at the outset. But as time went by, I managed to find a way to estabalish contact with children, and then all my problems suddenly appeared solvable,” Maria explained. 

Maria Golovina authored lesson lplans and applications for the Moscow Electronic School. She designs inter- and meta-disciplinary lessons and is writing her doctoral thesis on this topic. 

“Children generally react positively to such classes. It is important to build up connections between subjects. Metadisciplinarity includes, among other things, the ability to use skills and knowledge from one subject for the study of another. For example, this year we have been designing a project on literature and foreign language. During such classes issues such as the peculiarities of translation and linguistics are considered. Also, history and foreign language study can be combined,” Maria explains

She participates in numerous professional contests and competitions, and also loves singing. She says this comes in handy when organising extra curriculum work at school. 

Denis Sokorev, 25, doctor

Denis has been interested in medicine since childhood due to his family members being medical workers. However, it took some time to select this career path.  

“My grandmother had been a general practitioner all her life. When a child, I used to come to her office and while I sat during her appointments with patients and saw how she spoke with them and helped them cope with their diseases. It was then I decided that I would definitely become a doctor,” Denis said. 

After school he entered Sechenov First Moscow Medical University. In the first years of studying there he was considering becoming a surgeon. As a student, he began working at the Pirogov First City Hospital, initially as a ward attendant and later as a nurse in the cardiac intensive care unit. It was there that he chose his current specialty. After getting a university degree, he enrolled in medical residency training in cardiology at the Davydovsky Hospital where he is applying for a job now and is thinking about getting a doctoral degree.

“Cardiology is special in that you can do it both in emergency medicine, for example, or in an intensive care unit or an operating room, or even in a common therapy unit,” Denis explains. 

Denis’s parents and wife are also medics and support his choice. The young doctor does deny that studying in medical school was hard and that he sometimes had to spend days and nights hovering over his textbooks. 

“In such moments many students probably think it is worth getting another medicine-related specialty. However, when you acquire knowledge and use it in practice and then see very severely ill patients return to normal life, you realise that you made the right choice. It is an incredible feeling.”  

During the COVID-19 pandemic he worked at an out-patient clinic as the primary point of contact for patients with a fever, then later in the intensive care unit for coronavirus patients at the Davydovsky Hospital.

“I was eager to find out about the disease, to meet it head on. This is good professional experience,” Denis remarks.

Since a young doctor has practically no free time outside of his work, he tries to spend it with his family.