On 5 February SCIT opened its doors to a large crowd of potential students. The guests were welcomed by SCIT administration, regular staff and visiting trainers Dmitry Bloshenko, Senior Reviser of the Russian Translation service at the UN Secretariat in New York and Jonathan Clements, FAO interpreter. Graduates with UN experience (among them Maria Zhurbina with 4 years work in the UN Russian Translation Service and Elizaveta Myshenkova with 3 freelance contracts in the UN Russian Interpretation Service in New York) gave valuable advice to the aspiring students. Olga Novikova and Mikhail Demidov, SCIT graduates and successful freelance interpreters in St. Petersburg, also shared their experience. Now the applicants face a challenging task: aptitude tests are scheduled for March, and those wishing to enroll have only a month left to prepare.
