Victoria Lederman’s "Freshman," a summary Automatic translate

This coming-of-age novel about a Samara student was written in 2016. The protagonist, blinded by youthful maximalism and far-fetched ideals, journeys from a self-centered teenager to a sensitive adult through a series of comical and life-threatening situations. The text draws on the realities of student life in the Faculty of Foreign Languages.

Student life and a new look

Seventeen-year-old Alexandra Bars is a first-year student studying foreign languages. She is passionately in love with Gennady Slavinsky, a senior student. He has been in a long-term relationship with Olga Platoshina. Alexandra decides to attract attention and drastically changes her image, cutting off her long, light brown hair and transforming it into a short, dark-haired woman. The hair color is called "dark chocolate."

Alexandra’s family is unusual. Her biological father, journalist Kirill, is several years younger than her mother, Marina. In her youth, Marina preferred the stable doctor Vasily, whom Sasha long considered her father. The truth came out at the age of twelve and was a severe blow. Now Kirill treats his daughter like an older friend; he is married to the young, pregnant Nastya. Sasha is jealous of her father’s new family. After her divorce from Vasily, Marina’s mother has been secretly dating the elderly Sergei Pavlovich.

Ridiculous coincidences and new acquaintances

Trying to get closer to Gennady, Sasha goes to his house under a false pretext. She accidentally splashes broken hairspray into her eyes and collapses in the closet. Gennady, who was home with a broken leg, helps her rinse her eyes, but then Olga shows up. Alexandra is forced to leave empty-handed.

Meanwhile, a fifth-year student named Alexander, driving a silver car, is persistently courting the student. The girl pointedly rejects his advances. During another ride with him, Sasha causes a minor accident involving Kirill’s kitten, Lucky. The kitten darts under the pedals, the fifth-year student brakes sharply, and crashes into a snowdrift. The student takes the animal and proudly walks away.

Alexandra’s life is filled with funny and curious episodes. After leaving her kitten with her friend Yana Lisimenko, Sasha witnesses a commotion in the entryway. Neighbor Edik Kozochkin decides to get rid of cockroaches with a smoke bomb, causing the entire building to run out into the cold, and Sasha loses her cell phone. Later, in a café, a crazed stranger attacks the student with a bouquet of dahlias, mistaking Alexandra for her husband’s mistress.

Exams and dangerous entertainment

At college, Sasha faces the strict demands of her English teacher, Elizaveta Ilyinichna Mamontova. Her classmate, Boris Gorokhov, often comes to Alexandra’s aid. During a difficult exam, Boris tricks Sasha into accepting his easy first-grade paper, condemning himself to retake it. This noble act makes Alexandra rethink her frivolous friend.

Sasha and her friend Yana Lisimenko go to a nightclub. They meet two guys and agree to go to a shashlik (kebab) in a black car. Finding themselves locked in a private house, the students realize the real danger. Sasha manages to blind one of the kidnappers with air freshener, lock the other in the restroom, and escape with her friend through a window. The girls walk to the highway and return home safely in a hitchhiking car.

New Year’s Eve and a trip to the village

Alexandra persuades Boris to help her. On New Year’s Eve, dressed as Father Frost and Snow Maiden, they first entertain Uncle Boris’s American guests and then arrive at Gennady’s apartment. Boris distracts Olga by getting her drunk on champagne, while Sasha coaxes a slow dance and a long kiss from Slavinsky.

On Old New Year’s, fifth-year student Alexander comes to visit Alexandra wearing a gnome hat and gives her an expensive smartphone to replace her broken one. That night, the young man takes Sasha out of town to a remote village. The fifth-year student teaches her to ski down a snowy ravine on plastic skis, and then they drink tea from an antique samovar in a small wooden hut. Sasha tells Alexander the story of her complicated relationship with her biological father, Kirill. The fifth-year student listens attentively and wraps the frozen girl in a shawl.

Hopes for a romance with Gennady are dashed a few weeks later when Slavinsky declares he won’t betray Olga and chooses her. Crushed by his rejection, Sasha quarrels with Kirill. The journalist explains that his daughter subconsciously seeks his image in men, confusing filial affection with romantic feelings. Her father promises that a real man will definitely appear and free her from old illusions.

Escape and rescue

Alexandra is traveling to a winter sanatorium on a union voucher, hoping to change Gennady’s mind. In her room, she suddenly finds Slavinsky kissing Olga’s hands. The student takes off and runs to the train station.

While waiting for the train, she spots one of her recent kidnappers. Panicking, she jumps into the train car, then jumps into a deep snowdrift at a remote station. She tries to walk to the dacha village she knows, where she used to ski with Alexander. The student falls into a ravine and breaks her collarbone. Freezing, Sasha manages to send an incoherent text message to a fifth-year student. The text reads, "Save me, I’m dying, ravine, skis, samovar." The girl loses consciousness, staring at the cold night sky.

Recovery and insight

A fifth-year student deciphers the message, finds Alexandra in a ravine, and takes her to the hospital. For eight days, the girl hovers between life and death due to double pneumonia. When she awakens, she sees Alexander next to her and realizes that he is the reliable and faithful man she’s always been looking for. The fifth-year student tenderly strokes her hand and says, "What a fool you are, Sasha! A dumbass, an idiot, and a blockhead!" These harsh words sound to her like the ultimate expression of sincere concern and deep affection.

Numerous visitors arrive in Alexandra’s room. Boris Gorokhov announces his plans to transfer to the theater academy in St. Petersburg. Olga Platoshina arrives unexpectedly and apologizes for Gennady’s behavior. Sasha sincerely replies that her youthful crush on Slavinsky was foolish and has now completely passed.

Sasha reconciles with her family. She calls Kirill "Dad" for the first time, bringing tears of joy to the stern journalist’s eyes. The student accepts her mother’s marriage to Sergei Pavlovich, who gives her many gifts for the rescued kitten Lucky. Old grudges vanish without a trace, and the world around her becomes incredibly kind and bright. The illusory shard of the crooked mirror leaves her eye forever, opening the way to a true adult life.