‘Holland reminds me of Kazakhstan’

Why did you decide to study at the TU Delft?

“Some of my friends had studied at TU Delft and recommended the school to me. I was actually considering an MSc in the United Kingdom, but I looked at their curriculum, and a one-year MSc didn’t appeal to me. I figured that a one-year MSC was either very intensive or concentrated, or not so serious. Also, I wasn’t sure about the quality of the courses and graduation project. Here, the graduation project takes a far longer time than that in the UK. This, coupled with the fact that my friends had said TU Delft was one of the top 10 universities in Europe, provided a powerful incentive for me to study here.”

Where did you do your BSc degree?

“Almaty Institute of Power Engineering & Telecommunications in Kazakhstan, where I studied Electronic Systems and Technologies.”

What is the main difference between your home university and TU Delft?

“Compared to Almaty Institute, TU Delft’s international student population is quite large. The courses here are also broader. At TU Delft you actually see how the courses are relevant to industry and real life. At Almaty Institute, the courses are more theory-based, and every course is compulsory. At TU Delft, students choose their courses and enjoy that freedom of flexibility, which initially was actually a bit of a problem for me, because I had to know what I wanted, and it took me a while to decide which direction to focus on.”

Do you now feel at home in Delft or still feeling homesick?

“I feel more at home now, because I’m surrounded by international students. Initially though I was very homesick, but I could adapt. By the time I arrived in Delft, my husband, who studies petroleum engineering, was already here, having attended summer school, so he helped me adjust.”

Why did you decide to make your career in a technological field?

“I went to a high school that focused on linguistics, but I did mostly physics and mathematics. I knew I didn’t want study economics at university, so I looked at other emerging fields that could offer job security. I saw that computers were the future, so I started on this path about six or seven years ago.”

Is it difficult being one of the few females studying computer engineering?

“I’m quite used to it now: at my former university I was one of three girls in our group of 30 students, so I soon got used to men treating me on their level; they’d even crack normal ‘guy’ jokes around me, and I was able to forgive them.”

What other job would interest you if you weren’t an engineer?

“A job related to finance. This is because I once worked as a budgeting accountant for a company in a small town where my husband was working in the oil fields. I actually applied for two positions. An accounting position, and an IT position, and as there weren’t any IT positions available, I opted for the accounting job.”

You once appeared in Delta’s style section: how would you characterize your style and look?

“In my country it’s a natural thing to always look nice. Four of five Kazakh women are very conscious of things like make up, appearance, clothes…. So it wasn’t anything to me until I got here and people began commenting on how I stood out. I have my own individual style; I just try to look good. I’m not exactly emulating anyone else’s style.”

Your country is very religious, as it’s mostly a Muslim state, did that affect your style in anyway?

“No, it didn’t. Religion is a personal thing, and the fact that I’m a Muslim doesn’t affect me in anyway. It’s just my way of life. We’re liberal in Kazakhstan. I have friends who are Christians, and some who practice some other religion, but it doesn’t affect our sense of style. I just like to look good; it’s a perfectly normal thing among the women in my country.”

What do you like and dislike most about Holland?

”The country is small and very densely populated, but I don’t feel it. You don’t feel like a grain of sand on the beach here. Holland reminds me of Kazakhstan, in the sense that it’s densely populated, but you do not feel it in anyway. If you go to cities like Moscow, you can feel the population, and it gives off this air of being congested. But I very much dislike the wind here, it’s always very windy.”

What do you miss about your home country?

“My son, Zhanibek . he’s three and a half years old. I also miss the hospitality of my people; I think the people of my country are more hospitable than here in the Netherlands. You are always made to feel welcome in my country.”

How would you describe Kazakhstan to someone who has never been there?

“Very large, beautiful and hospitable. You can find different landscapes, like deserts in the south, forests in the north, the Caspian Sea in the west, and mountains to the east.”

What inspires you?

“The expectations of my parents, which are for me to be highly educated, to be in a good position, in a good country. I was always conscious of the fact that I had to get good marks and get scholarships to make my parents proud. Now the important thing for me is to achieve as well as I can, so I can make better opportunities for the future, and especially for our child. I believe getting a good education here is a passport to getting a good job and lots of opportunities for my child. At times it’s difficult for me being separated from him, but when I feel sad, I simply remind myself that I’m doing it for our futures.”

Zhanna Basil (Photo: Sam Rentmeester/FMAX)

Why did you decide to study at the TU Delft?

“Some of my friends had studied at TU Delft and recommended the school to me. I was actually considering an MSc in the United Kingdom, but I looked at their curriculum, and a one-year MSc didn’t appeal to me. I figured that a one-year MSC was either very intensive or concentrated, or not so serious. Also, I wasn’t sure about the quality of the courses and graduation project. Here, the graduation project takes a far longer time than that in the UK. This, coupled with the fact that my friends had said TU Delft was one of the top 10 universities in Europe, provided a powerful incentive for me to study here.”

Where did you do your BSc degree?

“Almaty Institute of Power Engineering & Telecommunications in Kazakhstan, where I studied Electronic Systems and Technologies.”

What is the main difference between your home university and TU Delft?

“Compared to Almaty Institute, TU Delft’s international student population is quite large. The courses here are also broader. At TU Delft you actually see how the courses are relevant to industry and real life. At Almaty Institute, the courses are more theory-based, and every course is compulsory. At TU Delft, students choose their courses and enjoy that freedom of flexibility, which initially was actually a bit of a problem for me, because I had to know what I wanted, and it took me a while to decide which direction to focus on.”

Do you now feel at home in Delft or still feeling homesick?

“I feel more at home now, because I’m surrounded by international students. Initially though I was very homesick, but I could adapt. By the time I arrived in Delft, my husband, who studies petroleum engineering, was already here, having attended summer school, so he helped me adjust.”

Why did you decide to make your career in a technological field?

“I went to a high school that focused on linguistics, but I did mostly physics and mathematics. I knew I didn’t want study economics at university, so I looked at other emerging fields that could offer job security. I saw that computers were the future, so I started on this path about six or seven years ago.”

Is it difficult being one of the few females studying computer engineering?

“I’m quite used to it now: at my former university I was one of three girls in our group of 30 students, so I soon got used to men treating me on their level; they’d even crack normal ‘guy’ jokes around me, and I was able to forgive them.”

What other job would interest you if you weren’t an engineer?

“A job related to finance. This is because I once worked as a budgeting accountant for a company in a small town where my husband was working in the oil fields. I actually applied for two positions. An accounting position, and an IT position, and as there weren’t any IT positions available, I opted for the accounting job.”

You once appeared in Delta’s style section: how would you characterize your style and look?

“In my country it’s a natural thing to always look nice. Four of five Kazakh women are very conscious of things like make up, appearance, clothes…. So it wasn’t anything to me until I got here and people began commenting on how I stood out. I have my own individual style; I just try to look good. I’m not exactly emulating anyone else’s style.”

Your country is very religious, as it’s mostly a Muslim state, did that affect your style in anyway?

“No, it didn’t. Religion is a personal thing, and the fact that I’m a Muslim doesn’t affect me in anyway. It’s just my way of life. We’re liberal in Kazakhstan. I have friends who are Christians, and some who practice some other religion, but it doesn’t affect our sense of style. I just like to look good; it’s a perfectly normal thing among the women in my country.”

What do you like and dislike most about Holland?

”The country is small and very densely populated, but I don’t feel it. You don’t feel like a grain of sand on the beach here. Holland reminds me of Kazakhstan, in the sense that it’s densely populated, but you do not feel it in anyway. If you go to cities like Moscow, you can feel the population, and it gives off this air of being congested. But I very much dislike the wind here, it’s always very windy.”

What do you miss about your home country?

“My son, Zhanibek . he’s three and a half years old. I also miss the hospitality of my people; I think the people of my country are more hospitable than here in the Netherlands. You are always made to feel welcome in my country.”

How would you describe Kazakhstan to someone who has never been there?

“Very large, beautiful and hospitable. You can find different landscapes, like deserts in the south, forests in the north, the Caspian Sea in the west, and mountains to the east.”

What inspires you?

“The expectations of my parents, which are for me to be highly educated, to be in a good position, in a good country. I was always conscious of the fact that I had to get good marks and get scholarships to make my parents proud. Now the important thing for me is to achieve as well as I can, so I can make better opportunities for the future, and especially for our child. I believe getting a good education here is a passport to getting a good job and lots of opportunities for my child. At times it’s difficult for me being separated from him, but when I feel sad, I simply remind myself that I’m doing it for our futures.”

Zhanna Basil (Photo: Sam Rentmeester/FMAX)