Harmonic Spring at Polytechnic University

You probably already know that since this spring there’s a whole ideology at Polytechnic University called LEPOTA. This is a university-wide project that was born and is being implemented thanks to many departments at Polytechnic. LEPOTA embraces various aspects of the University life — health, sports, culture, ecology, emotional state and humanitarian actions. As conceived by the authors of the project, LEPOTA is a system of activities that help students and employees feel both psychologically and physically comfortable and protected on the Polytechnic campus, and increase motivation for learning, work and social activities at the university, thus forming a special value of the Polytechnic community.

When asked «What makes you happy at university?», Tatiana, director of the Harmony Volunteer Project Center, tells us that it is cooperation, friendly interaction, and simple, good human fellowship. In this article we tell you about the events, filled with meaning and soul, from the Center for Volunteer Projects «Harmony», which were held this spring as part of the LEPOTA project.

March

The month was dedicated to physical and moral health. Together with the Russian Red Cross, students held a master class on self-regulation and an 8-hour course on psychological first aid. This time it was attended by university teachers. Now each staff member knows how to properly provide support while remaining resourceful and calm. Also, volunteer rescuers held two courses on first aid already beloved by students. On dummies, they practiced the Heimlich technique to free blocked airways, honed cardiopulmonary resuscitation skills, and learned what to do for burns, snake bites and frostbite.

Remarkably, enrollment in the course turned out to be full in just one day. This means that polytechnics have a serious request to get more first aid classes. That’s why the staff of the Harmony Volunteer Project Center trained as first-aid instructors, received official permission to teach the course, and will be teaching it at Polytechnic University starting next year.

To let more students know where and how they can get psychological support at the university and how to provide it themselves, Harmony recorded the broadcast on Psychological Safety at the SPbPU TV Studio.

The month was not without good deeds for children. Harmony employees went to the Russian Red Cross Rehabilitation Center and held a master class on making ornaments for the Day of Cosmonautics. These are the alien cuties they made.

April

During the second spring month kids were preparing to speak at various foresight sessions, forums and conferences, so at the end of March the School of Rhetoric held a master class on public speaking. Samira Gummetova — youth leader, director, organizer of dozens of city events — told how to overcome all fears and clamps and prepare for a spectacular public speaking.

Turned the calendar and began a month of educational activities. As part of the Humanitarian Harmony Forum held a foresight session «Ecosystem approach in youth policy in an educational organization. A Road Map for Good». Experts and active students talked about creating and sustainably developing an ecosystem, and learned how to become a youth leader and find like-minded people. Three important qualities of a youth leader are decency, demandingness and competence, said Maksim Pasholikov, vice-rector for youth policy and communication technologies. At the youth section of the forum, the team of the Harmony Center for Volunteer Projects evaluated the speakers’ presentations, determined the winners and conducted useful master classes.

At the Youth Career Forum, the guys from Harmony presented their projects. Maxim Smirnov, head of the student media lab, gave a master class entitled «How to Tame Creativity». They continued to develop in the media sphere with the help of Maria Zenina, head of Harmony’s media department, cameraman and editor. She held an author’s 3-day course-intensive on video-making «Focus», whose participants broke down all the stages of video production, studied the functions of Adobe Premiere Pro, learned about the subtleties of video content promotion.

May

The month was proclaimed a month of creativity and hospitality. On May 2, Polytechnic University staff met with students from Vladimir State University (VSU) and schoolchildren from the city of Vladimir. The Harmony team organized a tour of the campus and the Main Building of our university for the guests, then discussed the strategy for the development of volunteerism in the youth environment and went on a tour of the city.

The next event in May was the annual «Dialogue of Generations», dedicated to communication between veterans of the Great Patriotic War and children from social institutions. Veterans shared the stories of the war years with children from boarding school № 6. Students and children, in turn, prepared for the veterans creative show pieces — songs and poems touched the audience to tears. The event was very heartwarming and informative.

At the end of the school year, the results of the all-Russian contest «Pulse of the Generation #ProDobro» were summed up. An interactive art exhibition of the best works by the winning authors and five creative master classes in drawing, weaving, and even inclusive thinking were waiting for the participants at the House of Scientists in Lesnoye. The apotheosis of the evening was the concert, in which the winners of the #MusicProDobro, #PoetryProDobro, #IllustrationProDobro and #EssayProDobro nominations from Yoshkar-Ola, Sevastopol, Krasnodar, Moscow and other cities performed.

Volunteering really does erase boundaries and distances. On May 18, Sakha Gymnasium students from Yakutsk came to Polytechnic University as part of the «A Start in Life» project. The project won the international #WeWelcome award, and hospitality volunteers conduct tours and activities on career guidance topics that help out-of-town applicants determine their educational paths.

It’s been a very busy spring, but we’re not tired, the guys from the Harmony Volunteer Project Center admitted. We are motivated by the fact that behind each event there are people who are grateful for our work, because we taught them something important.

Prepared by the Harmony Center