I graduated from Skypepro College! Automatic translate

I don’t know where to begin. Probably because two years ago I had no idea what I wanted to do. I finished ninth grade feeling like I was either heading to a regular high school with unclear prospects or some college where parents just "send" their kids off. Neither option was particularly inspiring.

I learned about Skype by chance — a friend had started there a year earlier and didn’t really talk about it. When I asked her how it was, she shrugged and said, "It’s difficult, but interesting." That was the answer that really caught my attention. Not "it’s great," not "I recommend it to everyone" — but an honest "it’s difficult, but interesting."

Why design

I chose the design department. According to Federal State Educational Standard 54.02.01, to be precise, this specialization allows one to work as a graphic designer, UI/UX specialist, or digital designer. It wasn’t an easy choice: the first semester was structured so you could try out several areas in practice, and I did. Programming didn’t grab me at all, marketing a little more, but I unexpectedly stuck with design longer than the others.

The first task was to create something simple in a graphics editor. I spent three hours working on it and realized I didn’t want to stop. That’s a simple way to figure out whether it’s for you.

How learning actually works

The campus isn’t a school. Not a school at all. No rows of desks, no chalkboard. An open space with workstations, each student has their own computer and a proper chair, not one that makes your back hurt by the end of the day. A kitchen with a coffee machine and a refrigerator for food — nothing special, but when you’re sitting there until six in the evening working on a project, it really matters.

What initially threw me off was the flexible schedule. You create up to 50% of your curriculum yourself, see your tasks a month in advance, and set your own priorities. Sounds like a dream, right? A student I know wrote something similar in her review: "You make your own schedule, but you also have to deal with the deadlines yourself." That’s very true. In my first semester, I almost failed several assignments precisely because I thought the flexible schedule meant I’d have time. I didn’t. Then I learned.

A mentor is a whole other story. Not a homeroom teacher in the traditional sense, but someone who sits down with you one-on-one once a week and asks you what’s going well, what’s not, what’s holding you back. The first few meetings felt a little strange — I wasn’t used to an adult asking about my progress without a threat in their voice. Then I got used to it and even began to look forward to these conversations.

Be honest about the workload

I won’t pretend everything was easy. I have less free time than I did in school — that’s a fact, and one student wrote the same thing in her open feedback: "The teaching is better and more interesting, but there’s significantly less free time." It was especially stressful in the second and third semesters, when real projects began.

The assignments aren’t academic in the sense that the professor created them specifically for the report. You’re given a task that closely resembles a work-related one: develop a corporate identity for a fictitious but plausible client, create a UI for a mobile app with real screen size limitations, and justify each design decision during the defense. That last part — defending your decisions in front of an audience — is scary at first. Later, it’s not.

Assignments are partially checked automatically, using the built-in AI tool on the platform. Skypro College is quite advanced in its educational program. It works quickly, but a couple of times the AI rejected an assignment for no apparent reason — I had to contact the supervisor, and she sorted it out. It’s not a disaster, but it’s worth being patient.

Student life - it really exists

When I read about "PlayStation in the chillzone" and "esports tournaments" on the website, I honestly thought they were just fancy words for parents. Turns out, that’s not quite true. The console is there, and people actually play it — especially on Friday nights, when people aren’t rushing home. Board games are also popular; there were several people in our group who sat down to play some card game every break.

Trips are organized. Out-of-town trips, master classes with invited specialists. One meeting with an expert — a practicing designer from a real company — was memorable because he spent the first twenty minutes talking not about beauty and creativity, but about deadlines, conflicts with clients, and how to explain to a client why their idea won’t work. That was more useful than any lecture on color wheels.

I made friends here. It sounds cliché, but it’s true — several people from my group have become the people I talk to outside of academic matters. I didn’t have that in school. One student wrote in a review that he thought he was an introvert and inept at socializing — until he found himself on campus among people with real conversational potential. I kind of understand what he means.

Internship and what’s next

In my second year, I got the opportunity to get a paid internship through the college’s partners. I took advantage of it. I ended up at a small studio producing content for several brands. The pay wasn’t much — around 15,000 rubles a month — but it was real experience with real edits from a real art director who didn’t stand on ceremony. The first two weeks were tough psychologically. After that, it was fine; I got used to it.

Upon completion, I received a state-recognized diploma. This is important if you plan to go on to university — the document is recognized, and you don’t need to explain to your employer what exactly you graduated from.

What I didn’t like

Price. The cost of tuition is objectively high, and this must be honestly acknowledged. There are options with installment plans, grants for discounts, and payment with maternity capital — all of these really work, but even with the discount, the cost is significant. Some students said it puts psychological pressure on them, especially when they know their parents are trying to help them.

Another thing is the platform. It’s convenient in itself; all materials, assignments, and lecture recordings are in one place, so nothing gets lost. But the AI checker sometimes fails, and if you encounter such a situation at the end of the semester, when you’re running out of time, it’s nerve-wracking. The tutor resolves these situations, and ultimately, it’s not fatal.

Bottom line for myself

Four years ago, I wouldn’t have believed I’d be able to calmly defend a design project in front of strangers, work with type grids, and know the difference between kerning and tracking not because I’d read about it, but because I’d practiced it. It was a real learning experience — not in the sense of being overly pretentious, but in the sense that I had to actually think and actually do things. That’s the most important thing I can say.