Nazrin Huseynzade: take risks, pay attention to details and be confident
Nazrin Huseynzade from Azerbaijan graduated from International Business Administration (BA)
Nazrin didn’t plan to come to Estonia at first, but now she couldn’t have been happier about her choice. During her Bachelor’s she became more confident and doesn’t fear presentations and other forms of public speaking anymore. She also started working in logistics and would like to take some time off from studies to pursue her career development.
Nazrin’s thoughts on her study years, the things she will miss about TalTech, her life in Estonia and some tips for current students in today’s material .
Plan B that turned into plan A
I would say that the moment I received my TalTech acceptance letter was one of the most memorable moments of my life. The whole situation of me moving to Estonia was so unexpected. It was only 3 months between I learned about being accepted and came to Estonia. I honestly just applied to TalTech as a plan B, which suddenly turned into my plan A, and until now I’m very happy that I decided to come here.
The things I’ll miss
I will definitely miss something I didn’t think I would back in time (smiling). During our studied we had so many simulation games. And actually I didn’t like them that much because I found it kind of hard for me. It took so much time to understand and even more time to complete the games. But then my opinion changed once I realized how much I learned thanks to them in just one week. To give you just one example — during one of my favourite games we had to create a hotel from scratch — from its name and marketing plan to financial plan and its further development. Besides, I also noticed how the social aspect was improved by simulation games. All because our working groups were put together randomly and so we all started meeting and getting in contact with people we didn’t know before. Unfortunately due to pandemic the classes were carried out online, but even so it was extremely interesting. I can only imagine how it would be face-to-face. From 9 am to 5 pm we were online doing work having meetings with lecturers and our teams — planning creating, planning, creating. My brain was boiling at some point but eventually it went quite good.
What changed about me in these years
I definitely became more confident in myself. Maybe it is also because I started living on my own without a support from my parents.
Another thing is my public speaking skills. I was always scared of speaking in front of a large audience. I remember right in the first year during the first lecture I already noticed in the curriculum we had to do presentations for at least five times. I instantly became worried and unsure how I was going to make it. But then after the first presentation I told myself “these are just students, just like you and this is just your lecturer sitting over there, it’s going to be fine”. And after a couple of times I got used to it. It just grew on me with time.
Also my English improved a lot. Back home in Azerbaijan I only used used it at English lessons, while here I have to speak English every day, it would be hard not to improve it (laughing). Overall, a lot about me changed and I do not regret any second that I chose Estonia.
Tips for current students
My advice would be — don’t be scared of doing something, take risks, they will most probably pay off and lead you to something good. If they prove otherwise — just learn from it because failure is also a success in a way, as if you fail once the chances it will happen again are slimmer. Overall, be confident and pay attention to details. I remember I was so excited about the first year of my Bachelor’s degree that I often missed some things, but later I got into that habit and it helped me a lot.
I associate TalTech with…
Hard work, as one can not make it without hard work at TalTech.
Friends — referring to students, lecturers and staff I came across. And of course with learning, because why else would I be here.
What’s next
Of course I’m planning to go for a Master’s degree one day, but right now after graduating from Bachelor’s I want to focus on my career. While studying I already started working as a procurement specialist, so logistics is something that I like to do and I’d like to put more focus in that direction at the moment. I think it’s always a good idea to take time between degrees because first one should gain experience and understand what one really wants. Maybe I will even decide not to continue with Business Administration, but to do something completely different, like IT, for example. So I really need to take time to think about it.
Nõmme, nature, and white nights
I really like the university location because of Nõmme (district of Tallinn) right by our side. When I just came to Tallinn I was staying in Nõmme and really fell in love with wooden houses and the smell of pine trees. Up until today Nõmme Spordikeskus is my favourite place. Sometimes after lectures and assignments together with my friends we would go there for a walk. I also visited other cities — Tartu, Pärnu, Haapsalu and I find the nature in Estonia really beautiful. I even like Estonian winter but meantime I wish it wouldn’t last longer than a week or so (laughing). And of course summer is so great this mix of warmish and coldish and magical white nights. If I leave Estonia one day I will miss white nights so much.
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