Tell us a little bit about yourself…

My name is Tanya and I am 20 years old. My EtonX course was CV Writing and I completed it a few months ago.

I’m currently a student at the Southern Federal University in Russia. I study linguistics and I’m a third-year student and next year I am finishing my studies. I’m going to study in the USA next year, because I won a scholarship. When I come back, I am going to have my finals at my university in Russia and then i’ll finish my studies. It took me a really long time to get my scholarship and my EtonX course actually helped me with applying for this. I had to fill in so many forms and documents and also submit a CV. It was really descriptive, and my course really helped me.

What had you been doing to develop your soft skills before your EtonX course?

I have been trying to develop my soft skills for a long time because I was always interested in self-development and I always thought about what I can do besides studying at school or university. I always look for online learning options and try to find something interesting so that I can learn and develop and enhance my skills in some way. I actually took another EtonX course, which was Making an Impact, and I was really interested in being able to speak in public and be assertive and that kind of thing. My first course encouraged me to want to do even more!

Had you always planned on going to university?

Actually, I had always thought of going to university, and I wanted to develop my skills, not only university in particular, but for my future job because I always think in advance, I’m always thinking “what more can I do?”, “what university should I go to?” and find courses that will help me to develop the particular skills I need to succeed.

Do you have any concerns about studying abroad?

I have some worries about going abroad because I’m going for year and all my friends are going to finish their studies this year. The main concern was not about studying but more about missing my friends and family. It’s going to be long time and i’ll have little opportunity to go back home. It’s really difficult for them to visit me and there will be a big time difference but I think I’ll be able to manage with that. It’s a great opportunity for me to study. I am going to Wyoming, so the centre of the continent and far from all the places that I actually wanted to visit but I’ll try to save up some money to travel when I’m there!

How do you feel about getting a job after university? Do you feel prepared?

I’m already working, I’m a tutor, so I’m just helping children in my city with their school studies and giving some help with their English homework, so this is the first stop for my future career. It’s great to get some experience and I am feeling prepared for the workplace. I think I will have enough skills for my future career now. That’s why I’m always busy!

How did you find out about EtonX?

I heard about EtonX from my teacher at school actually, she sent me the post, and the course and the course description and I thought “why not try that?”. It wasn’t something serious, I thought what a nice opportunity, and this was two years ago when I did my first course. Since then I have had an interview, and written essays and got so much practise. Also, Eton is such a great college and I thought it would be a great opportunity.

What was the main reason you decided to complete the course?

I just thought that I wanted to develop my speaking skills and for CV writing, it came at a time when I had to apply for different jobs and my scholarship and I thought it would be great to make sure I’m doing everything right and didn’t miss a good opportunity.

What was your favourite feature?

I always loved to have live group sessions and get to talk to different people from all over the world, just to get to know them, to learn something new and hear their different points of view. Not only from the offline materials, which can seem boring. It made it really interesting, it’s lovely to talk to people. I’m an extrovert, and I love to share my experiences. It made it much more interesting.

What did you think of the learning materials on your course?

I think the materials were really great, in comparison to the other courses I’ve taken, there were a lot of resources and so much information that I did not know about, even though I have done a lot of research. The information on the course was really interesting and not something I had heard about before. It takes 8 weeks and at first, I thought “what we do this whole time?” but actually all the information was so necessary, and it was a great pleasure for me.

Tell me about your online tutor and classmates.

My classmates were all so nice and it was funny to find out that one of my classmates was actually from Russia too! We really understood each other, and it was great to hear her feedback on everything we had done together. It was interesting to talk from people from other countries such as Thailand. It was interesting to see the different things they learnt outside the course and in their country. I really liked my tutor, Patty, too. She was really nice and organised, and I really saw that she was always trying to do her best for us.

Was your EtonX course different from traditional leaning in school?

EtonX varied a lot from traditional learning. Usually at school or university and we have lectures and the tutor doesn’t really know if we understand or not. It’s normally just learning the theory from the tutor and not practical element but EtonX gave us the opportunity to apply what we learnt right away, added a practical element that you do not usually get. I was shy at first, but I got used to it really quickly and I got more confidence as the course went along.

What were the results after completing your course?

Right away I saw results, as I was learning for the online session, applying it right away, as soon as I learnt it. I corrected my CV as I did the course, and I used the course so much. It really helped me and now I really understand what the employers want to see. Some of my friends ask me how to right their CV’s and I say “okay, let me help you with that”!

My course really helped me with applying for my scholarship to study in the USA. I think the way I wrote it was a lot better than before I started the course, and I think it made sure that I did everything correctly, applied what I learnt and I think that was why I was accepted for the scholarship. It increased my confidence!