Continuing the series of interviews with the teachers of the Stavropol State Agrarian University, we talked with the professor of the basic department of private animal husbandry, selection and breeding of animals, doctor of agricultural sciences, professor Elena Edugartovna Epimakhova.
Elena Edugartovna is a teacher with many years of experience at two large enterprises, a hereditary scientist in the field of poultry farming, the author of more than 255 scientific papers, textbooks and manuals. What made you leave production in pedagogy? What failures happen on a professional path? How to teach students to communicate professionally?
Elena Edugartovna, how many years have you been teaching?
I have been teaching at the Stavropol State Agrarian University since 2004 - 18 years. Prior to that, she worked at the enterprise as the chief technologist, organized technological internships for students and came only to give lectures. Since 2008, she has moved to a full-time position. Vladimir Ivanovich Trukhachev, when he invited me to work, said that for the university I was primarily interested in the role of a kind of playing coach, having 13 years in turkey breeding and 12 years in commercial poultry farming. That is why I will certainly give students relevant scientific and practical competencies.
What university did you graduate from?
I graduated from the Russian State Agrarian University - Moscow Agricultural Academy. K. A. Timiryazev with honors. In all my life I did not receive a single four, I was a Lenin scholarship holder. I come from a family of classical poultry breeders and proudly continue their work, despite the fact that I draw, studied folk dances and starred in a film with Natalia Bondarchuk. I thought that I would connect life with the stage. It was the parents who insisted on continuing to do the family business and were right.
What do you like about the teaching profession?
I love everything. I love poultry farming, I love teaching, writing, meeting people. And working with students gave me a new impetus. I had success in production, but I already realized myself there, I wanted to give my knowledge and skills. I came to the university and felt that I needed it. I had 8 graduate students during this period, 5 successfully defended, the sixth is conducting experiments on the reproduction of chickens that are relevant for science and production. Is there anything you don't like about the profession? Probably not.
Have you experienced professional failures?
Yes, some graduate students let me down. After all, you give your idea to graduate students, you invest in them. The precedent is indicative that my graduate student already had 85% of her dissertation ready, and at the last moment she refused to defend herself. For me it was a betrayal. I am an optimist and an extrovert, I fall in love with people very much, I give, but I do not always feel the return. It also happens. What are you professionally proud of? I take pride in my students. For example, Alexander Gridasov, one of my best students. I have a saying: "I make Pinocchio from logs." He came to the university stiff, did not know how to build a speech, but he was always next to me, listened, absorbed. I taught him to express his thoughts freely. As a result, Alexander now began to talk even more than I did, but listening to him is a pleasure. Now he is very successfully working at the largest poultry enterprise in the region, he is constantly referred to. Also, my graduate student works very successfully at VNIIOK, and another graduate student in the laboratory of our university. Or Yegor Negro, he adopted all my knowledge and practical skills. Now it works successfully. I'm proud of them.
Do you think that the students at the beginning of your teaching path and the current ones have some differences? How have they changed?
When I came there were two groups of future livestock specialists, and now there is only one. The number of applicants has changed, because due to urbanization, our specialty is losing its popularity. Students see themselves in urban locations, but not in rural areas. They think that if they come to the Faculty of Biotechnology, they will work exclusively in the villages. I tell them about industrial poultry enterprises, where the salary is from 50 thousand rubles, a company car, mobility, but you still need to get there. It seems to me that the majority of today's students do not want to overcome difficulties. This is a problem in general, not just ours. I noticed that there were fewer students with burning eyes. But all the same, if out of 20 people at least 5 are interested in the basics of our profession, then it’s worth working for this. An illustrative example is a student of secondary vocational education. He draws, graduated from art school, is engaged in boxing, very charismatic. She invited him to her office during a break for coffee. The result is that this student has been actively working in the Poultry Farmer for the second year. His parents did not know where to send him to study. The choice fell on zootechnics, because there were small scores upon admission. And now he says: "I know for whom I came." We will continue to work with him, develop his potential.
What, in your opinion, should a teacher do to have a positive impact on students?
Work conscientiously, love your job, don't sit still. I have almost 50 lectures, but I constantly add new slides, new facts and figures to the presentations. I am always in the subject, I read, I update my knowledge, I never stand still. This is what attracts students. “Burn to shine” is my motto, everyone knows it. I myself love to learn and I urge them to be creative and loving. Last week we talked with Professor of the Department of Animal Feeding and General Biology, Doctor of Agricultural Sciences, Professor Nikolai Zakharovich Zlydnev. How have students changed in 50 years? What should new teachers do? Where did the love for studying cows come from? - read in an interview with Nikolai Zakharovich.
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