Marketing graduate student Natallia Shynkevich never runs into old hometown friends or classmates when she walks around the University’s campus.
Shynkevich is the only student at the University from Belarus, a country in Eastern Europe along Russia’s northeastern border.
But being the only student here from her home country is not as lonely as it sounds.
“It’s not a big deal that I’m the only student from Belarus here or at Kent State because I can meet some Russian or Ukrainian people here and we speak the same language,” she said.
Encouraged to attend the University by her brother, a finance graduate student who also studied at the University, Shynkevich has been studying here since August and is considering becoming a marketing professor after graduation.
She received her master’s in economics at Kent State University, where her brother teaches finance.
For Shynkevch, life at the University is fun because she said people here are much nicer than those in Belarus.
“People in Belarus don’t smile, and they’re not as friendly as Americans,” she said.
The Belarusian education system also does little to enforce policies on cheating, Shynkevich said.
“It’s a common practice and teachers know about it, and they don’t do anything to prevent it.”
But Shynkevich does acknowledge that she misses the food, especially kefir, a popular Eastern and Northern European yogurt drink that cannot be purchased easily in Louisiana.
“I think I offended one native New Orleans guy because I said that I don’t like Louisiana food because it was spicy,” she said.
Shynkevich said one of the benefits of studying marketing here is conducting research with William Black, the Piccadilly, Inc. business administration business partnership professor, and Ofer Mintz, assistant professor of marketing.
When she’s not researching online marketing or assisting professors, Shynkevich keeps in touch with her parents every week via Skype.
Shynkevich also rows at the University Student Recreational Complex, but has yet to attend any sporting events.
“I’m not a big sports fan,” she said. “Not only football, but any kind of sports.”
Mintz said Shynkevich is a “good example” for those interested in pursuing graduate studies and commends her for traveling from Belarus to study at the University.
“It’s a big leap – moving from Belarus to here,” Mintz said, “especially in this economy where students might have to move somewhere to get a job.”
With specialties in marketing strategy and online marketing topics, Mintz said Shynkevich shows enthusiasm toward understanding the marketing practitioner field and online marketing.
Mintz said there is “a dire need” for people who are in online marketing, and Shynkevich has a “really good chance” to be a marketing professor.
“There’s a big interest in it for students, so it’s a good market for professors as well,” Mintz said.
More than 1,600 out-of-country students are enrolled in the 2012 fall semester at the University, according to a report from the Office of Budget and Planning. Of those students, more than 1,100 are enrolled in graduate and professional studies.
