On 3 July SCIT held a diploma award ceremony for the graduates of 2022/23 academic year. Herzen university’s Mariinski Hall was full of graduates and their guests, and all present were greeted by Rector Sergey Tarasov, also by Sergey Gritsay, Head of the Linguistic Support Department  of the Russian MFA,  Vladimir Kuznetsov, Head of the UN Information Centre in Moscow, Vladimir Zapevalov, Representative of the Russian MFA in St. Petersburg, and Alexander Prokhorenko, Deputy Director of the State Hermitage and member of the SCIT Borad of Guardians.  Director Irina Alexeeva and Maksim Berendyaev, Head of the AKM-Vest Translation Agency addressed the graduates with a few words of encouragement.  All guests of honour spoke about the importance of linguistic support in today’s world,  noticed the graduates’ high level of competence and wished them a fruitful and rewarding professional life. SCIT Deputy Direcor Angelique Antonova presented a report of SCIT’s activities in 2022/23, especially stressing the renewal of UN internships and a wide array of opportunities provided by the distant learning mode.

As the tradition goes, the festivities were continued on board the ship cruising up and down the Neva, and still further the graduates presented their little quizz and an amateur concert to all the guests. The graduates also received a word of welcome from Geneva, where there is an impressive representation of SCIT trainers and graduates in various international organizations.

Good luck to the new graduates!