Integration of Kazakh-Turkish Lyseum Graduates and Their Social Activity in University Life

Integration of Kazakh-Turkish Lyseum graduates and their social activity in university life

Introduction

According to Hyde and Allyson (2014), professors of psychology from the University of Wisconsin, single-sex education system is highly effective for children in terms of their academic progress and achievements. Several factors contribute to their success, such as eliminating distracting factors (girls). This idea is confirmed by the fact that a majority of successful students at Nazarbayev University is KTL alumni. They start living in the dormitories at the age of 12, doubtlessly, it has a great positive impact on their maturity and upbringing, since their manners are based on the older generations’ suggestions rather than the parents’, which helps to avoid becoming effeminate..

 However, when they start living in the new society, they are said to be disadvantaged in terms of the social factors. Students of our university have a social network group on VK, where we can leave anonymous messages with different content. So, it is an often case when people ask some advice in romantic or labor relationship problems. Many people leave comments, such as “you are definitely from KTL“, “KTLs are complaining again” or “KTL students will always be KTL students”, meaning that they will always struggle in working with girls on projects and just socializing with them. Thus, It has become kind of a stereotype.

As a result of these jokes on KTL alumni, I want to analyze how do KTL students adapt to the new environment in reality. I will reveal, how do they perform group assignments, participate in the social life of the university, socialize in informal situations. I interviewed 2 males and 3 females to share their stories and answer to my specific questions. The participants’ names were changed in order not to violate research ethics rules, keeping their confidentiality.  Thus, this paper will either prove or break the stereotype regarding KTL students.

Case of Aigerim

Aigerim is 2nd year Biology major student, alumni of Karaganda KTL. “I was afraid of eating out in the local canteen because of the high concentration of boys there”, – Aigerim said during her Foundation year here.  According to her story, while studying in KTL, she did not interact with the opposite gender. Since her parents are not from Karaganda, she had to stay in the dormitory even for the weekends during 5 years, she also has not visited any sections outside. Thus, her life was restricted by KTL territory, going home once per 2 months. Aigerim says: “when I was 15 years old, I realized that it is difficult for me to interact even with my brothers”. So, she is 20 years old now and has never been in romantic relationships. Regarding having mixed-gender classes, Aigerim comments that she prefers to work in groups with girls only, claiming that sometimes boys are difficult to understand and her productivity decreases because of being shy. Aigerim says that she really wants to be a part of the social life, visit different events, have friends of opposite gender and, doubtlessly, to find a boyfriend. Currently, her situation has not improved significantly, Aigerim just stopped being embarrassed eating in the canteen and can greet the boys. However, it should be admitted that this unpleasant situation comes partly from her personality, since during the first year in KTL, she also had problems in interacting with other females. Nevertheless, she is enthusiastic about changing herself and getting used to this environment.

Case of Dariga

Dariga is from Astana KTL, she is 1st year math major student. The Dariga’s situation is a little bit different. Unlike Aigerim, Dariga has very high communication skills and a great sense of humor. Before enrolling in KTL, she had many friends in her old school among both girls and boys. Moreover, unlike Aigerim, Dariga has a home and her family in Astana, which means she had a chance of leaving the KTL territory on weekends and socialize with other people. As an example, Dariga kept in touch with her ex-classmates for a while even after leaving her school through organizing meetings on the weekends. However, she stopped socializing with old friends and devoted all the time for her studies. As a result, during the first months in the university, she faced with several problems. Here are some of her quotes:”I was disappointed, when I realized that there are more boys than girls in my EAP group” or “I noticed that I am more productive in cooperation with females ”. Dariga claims that it took a year for her to adapt to this mixed environment, during her Foundation year, she used to interact only with her ex-classmates from KTL. Today, Dariga succeeded and has friends among the boys, it is also not a problem to write a lab report, cooperating with a male, she is now even in romantic relationships with her classmate. Thus, although isolation for 5 year has “suppressed” her communication skills, Dariga has succeeded thanks to her personal traits.

Case of Ernur and Aidos

Ernur is 1st year SHSS student, graduate of Semey KTL. Ernur shares with an interesting story about his elder brother, Aidos, who has also graduated from KTL. According to Ernur, Aidos is now 24 years old, but his first romantic relationships started just a month ago. Moreover, during his studies, he did not get used to collaborate with females, this problem has vanished only after starting his career. The root of this situation is a lack of  interaction outside KTL. Aidos visited sport section, judo, but it was inside KTL territory. Even though Aidos had a home to go on weekends, he just spent time sitting in front of the computer. Consequently, he had a difficult adaptation period after leaving KTL. As a result, Aidos suggested Ernur’s parents to prevent this problem and Ernur started visiting music and drama club at the age of 14. Every Saturday and Sunday Ernur spent about 3 hours in this club, socializing with females and males. “It was extremely strange and uncomfortable for me during the first month”, - Ernur said.  During his last school year, Ernur did not want to leave his lovely club. Ernur says:”I really enjoy playing with girls different roles, it is really funny”. So, when Ernur started his university life, he did not meet any problems. According to him, he felt even better than in his club. This is only his 2nd year at university, but he has already become a part of Drama club and Guitar club, regularly participates in acoustic nights, has many female friends and a girlfriend. Moreover, Ernur claims that it is a pleasure to work with girls on assignments, since they are usually less lazy than boys and are more creative. The situations of Aidos and Ernur are different, since Ernur, unlike Aidos, had regular activities outside KTL which had significant positive impact on his character.