Scholar Testimonial: Hakim Zainiddinov

Hakim Zainiddinov of Tajikistan received an Open Society Institute Doctoral Fellowship to study sociology at Rutgers University. Below he describes his experience at the OSI Pre-Academic Summer School in Istanbul.

Prior to coming to Istanbul for the summer school, I was thinking about how the academic writing course would help me, as I had already completed a three-month pre-academic program at Washington University in St. Louis back in 2002. Following that, I finished my MA at Columbia, and thus it seemed this course might be a little superfluous. Fortunately, I was wrong. The course proved a valuable refresher to what I’d learned before, especially since my last piece of academic writing had been submitted in 2004.

Amazingly enough, there were also aspects of writing that I encountered for the first time.

One of the personal challenges I face is beginning the writing process. Through the academic writing lessons, I managed to find a solution to sitting in front of a blank monitor assessing what I should write and how to start.

I learned about the need to have a passion for my work, the article I’m about to write, or the research I’m about to conduct. Prior to the classes, writing was a combination of hate and love. Love is now slowly but solidly taking the place of hate and is a result of the passion I’ve created for my work.

Time management skills were also something I honed during my time in Turkey. I learned to acknowledge and prepare for the eventuality that sometimes writing goes smoothly and becomes more enjoyable than at other times. I realized aspects such as the time of the day or environmental factors can play also play a role.

Another skill I gained was in the creation of annotated bibliographies. It makes the life of the writer much easier, despite the time-consuming nature of the task. Being familiar already with the use of summarization techniques, how could I have overlooked this tool for so long?

Looking at myself as a writer at the end of the summer school, I realized I developed writing skills I lacked previously and which I think benefit my current studies.

From the social science courses offered in 2008, I chose, among others, "Social Movements and Civil Society," which I thought would be useful compliment to my future PhD in sociology. The assignment was challenging, as it involved analyzing a social movement outside of my home country, and thus enabled me to expand my knowledge.

The summer school was enriched through useful workshops such as "Plagiarism and How to Avoid It," "Social Analysis: Finding Materials and Making an Argument," and "Preparing for a Doctoral Program in the U.S.," which provided additional writing skills, among other information.

Taking into consideration that study can only be enjoyable in combination with recreational and social activities, the Open Society Institute did a great job of organizing beach outings, city tours, a national culture night, hiking, and a boat trip.

In my opinion, the summer school was a very useful pre-scholarship experience. It helped me come back to academic life and prepared me for the fall semester 2008. I had an invaluable opportunity to meet new people and build both personal and professional relationships.