Student Brigades
Russian Student Construction Brigades originated in 1959 at the Physics Department of Lomonosov Moscow State University when 339 students formed a team and went to Kazakhstan to work on a farm. They constructed 16 buildings in summer and were paid well. Next year, other students joined the team and the movement started to grow. By today, tens of millions of students from different schools in Russia have participated in student construction brigades, including the President V. Putin.
Once I finished my first year at KSTA in 2009, I was looking for a paid summer job. The administration of the Academy suggested me to join a student construction team “Slavyana” of 11 girls at Ural Federal University named after the first President of Russia B.N. Yeltsin in Yekaterinburg. I decided to go there. While my initial goal was to only earn money, the trip turned out to be the best summer of my life: full of joy, friendship, creativity, and adventures. Our brigade worked as plasterers and painters in an area where a new apartment complex was built. Besides the work, every evening, we met with female and male construction teams from other universities and had together various events. All teams had their own name, history, uniform, logotype, and traditions and I was so fascinated by learning about them. Once I returned home from Yekaterinburg in late August, I started to prepare for the next year trip!
Construction Site
“Slavyana” Team
Our Uniform
Inter-team Event
Evening Performance
Camping
After my second summer with the Yekaterinburg brigade, I decided to form a female student construction team at KSTA to provide other girls with an opportunity to learn about the movement. I came up with a name “Yuventa”, logotype, printouts, and started to attract prospective team members. Soon, a group of 12 students was formed. I took care of their professional skills training as plasterers and painters and got us a job within the All-Russian Student Construction Project “Akademicheskiy” in Yekaterinburg. In Summer 2011, Yuventa and other student brigades came to participate in the construction and compete for becoming the most efficient, disciplined, and creative team. My brigade was well built and prepared. We all shared a common purpose, respect, and trust. In 7 weeks, Yuventa demonstrated the highest performance on the construction site and various inter-team events, and we won the competition. That was another enthralling and unforgettable summer.
Yuventa's Dance Performance
At Work
Our Victory
Reflection: The Russian Student Brigades movement was not only an opportunity to earn money, but it was also a great school of manual labor, teamwork, friendship, and leadership. I was very happy to discover the movement for myself and be able to share it with many others. Since 2011, Yuventa is still functioning at KSTA attracting students by its history and traditions.