International Student Spotlight: Igor Savin
Igor Savin is an international student from Kazakhstan and is currently enrolled in the Master of International Business (MIB) program.
Q: What is your background?
Savin: “I was born and raised in Karaganda, Kazakhstan, and am the only child in my family. My parents have always taught me to be purposeful and open-minded, which definitely affected my education and future career. After getting a degree in mechanical engineering, I found myself in the tech field of procurement and logistics.
I admire reading, especially in the genres of fantasy and science fiction. When I was in high school and could devote more time to reading, I could easily read one book a day.”
Q: Tell us about your home country.
Savin: “Kazakhstan is a wonderful country with huge economic potential and magnificent nature. If you have the opportunity to visit it, I recommend spending a week or two in Almaty, with its high snowy mountains and nature reserves. After that, visit our capital, Astana, with its modern and sometimes stunning architecture.
Hospitality in Kazakhstan is always in the first place.”
Q: What was the most difficult part of your journey to where you are today?
Savin: “I would say collecting all the information about the admission/travel process in a logical chain, filtering it out and implementing it in reality. In addition, COVID instigated adjustments to add additional restrictions on international travel.
The first semester in college is also something incredible, where absolutely everything is new to you. When the professor tells you to open Canvas to go through the syllabus, you sit and do not understand why you need a piece of paper for drawing in an economics course.”
Q: What do you miss the most about your home country?
Savin: “Most of all, I miss my parents and relatives. Of course, it is now easy to maintain video communication with them, but this will never replace human interaction in real life. If we are talking about less important things, sometimes there is not enough fragrant fresh bread from my country.”
Q: Why did you decide to come to the University of Florida? What is your favorite thing about being here?
Savin: “There were several factors: diversity, alumni, top-class professors, career service and return on investment. When you are going to study in another part of the world, you consider the University in detail. In addition, our University has a great advantage – sunny Florida, which, after a harsh winter in Kazakhstan, is exactly what you need.
The best thing about being at UF is the student life. Everyone here can find their own way to have fun and develop themselves as a person.”
Q: What additional languages do you speak? Have you visited any other countries?
Savin: “I speak English and Russian. Also, I speak Kazakh at an above-average level. I have visited 11 different countries – in the Asian region, Europe and Central America. Traveling is one of the meanings of my life.
At every opportunity, I try to go where I’ve never been.”
Q: Tell us a cool fact about yourself.
Savin: “For three years, I was the co-founder of a small and, I would say, ‘international business,’ as the main office and branch were located in different countries. We supplied electrical and radio components to the largest manufacturers of Kazakhstan – including the nuclear industry – and thermal power plants.
