波士顿大学首位来自俄罗斯的女子篮球新生参与了国际学生的生活

《全球事务》，2024年3月8日

Anastasiia Semenova (CAS ’26) grew up “in a big basketball family” in St. Petersburg, Russia. 她的澳门威尼斯人注册网站和哥哥都打篮球，包括职业水平的篮球。With the sport being such a big tradition in their family, Semenova credits her parents and brother with instilling in her a love for the game that she began playing at a young age.

“去美国打篮球的想法绝对是我澳门威尼斯人注册网站的主意，他们把我介绍给了我，因为我哥哥实际上也在做同样的事情，”她说。“他14岁时离开家，上了高中……然后收到了很多工作邀请。他是一个非常伟大的球员，并决定去詹姆斯麦迪逊大学追求他的篮球生涯和学术。So I’m definitely following in his footsteps in a sense.”

在招募季节，塞门诺娃没能去波士顿大学，但她还是留下了自己的印记——从4000多英里外——她给教练组写信，分享了一段展示她作为一名球员的许多天赋的精彩片段。She made an impression on the coaches, as Semenova went on to become the first recruit from Russia for the Women’s Basketball program. She also holds the designation as being the first international first-year student athlete in the program since 2015.

“BU was definitely at the top of my list,” Semenova says. “I ended up having like four or five offers from different Division I schools, and that was honestly way more than I expected, being away from the States for recruiting. BU ended up being my top choice because of the academics and strong coaching staff that created an atmosphere where I realized I’ll have a family away from my family, which was really important for me as an international student.”

女子篮球总教练梅丽莎·格雷夫斯将塞门诺娃描述为“一名智商高、速度快、在内线和外线都能给防守带来威胁的伟大篮球运动员。”格雷夫斯指出，在过去的一年里，塞门诺娃在很多方面都取得了令人印象深刻的进步，她必不可少的领导才能帮助推动了球队在场上和场下的成功。

As an international student at BU, Semenova is double majoring in computer science and economics and minoring in business. 她喜欢和其他国际学生运动员一起寻找社区，在整个体育系，不同的运动队都有很多这样的人，尤其是在美国以外很受欢迎的运动项目

与队友的亲密关系帮助她缓解了最初来到波士顿大学时所感受到的文化冲击。While the women’s basketball team did not have any other international students on its roster when she started, she found community with her fellow teammates and with the coaching staff. Now, as a sophomore, Semenova is thrilled to mentor other international students who are on the team or will join soon.

“This year we have two Spanish girls who are freshmen, and we have one who is a transfer from Estonia, which is kind of close to me [Russia],” she says. “I’ve been to Estonia, and she has been to Russia so we kind of bonded over how we are both from Eastern Europe, which was great… I like that the freshmen international [students] ask me ‘how do we do this?，“我们从哪里得到的？”’……我告诉他们别担心，我已经想好了，”她笑着说。

In addition to navigating cultural differences when Semenova first came to the U.S., she also had to learn the subtle differences in how basketball is played in America vs. in Europe. “That was such a shock to me because certain things that I used to do I can’t do here now, or vice versa,” she says. “There are some differences in rules of the game as well as pace and physicality of it. American basketball is played much faster, and there is an emphasis on getting stronger in the weight room, which leads to a more physical game. There’s also more of a hierarchy here, if that makes sense, where there are stricter restrictions on certain positions.”

Having to learn some new rules of the game while navigating language and cultural differences – all while being the only person on the team from Russia – could have toppled the 6 feet, 2 inches tall power forward, but she rose to the occasion.

With a classic student athlete persevering-at-all-costs outlook, Semenova told herself and tells other new international student athletes, “It will get better. It will get better. Maybe not in a week or a month or two, but it will. You will adjust and everything will work out fine. Don’t lose your hope.”

“Ana was the first to offer help to our newest members of the team who are also international, and she has been a huge factor in their positive transition,” says Head Coach Graves. “Amongst all her team contributions, she has found success in the classroom too. Many people would struggle with everything Ana has on her plate, yet she does it all, in a second language and so far from home. This is why Ana embodies what it means to be resilient.”

On and off the court, Semenova is shining. On the court, she scored a season-high 21 points in early January against Lafayette. “This season, our team is very new with six freshmen and two transfers,” she says. “This has given me a chance to take on a leadership role as one of the few people who know the program and have been with the team for a while.”

Looking forward, Semenova wants to not only improve her leadership skills but also continue developing other skills that will be useful in life after basketball. “I continue working hard in the classroom, looking for internships and future job opportunities. Overall, I am enjoying this stage of my life, knowing that there’s more to explore and achieve beyond the basketball court.”

In Russia, Semenova was a member of the expanded Russian National U18 Team. She was an All-Star on the U16 team that captured the European Girls Basketball League championship. In her career, she has won two Russian Championship bronze medals on the U16 and U18 teams and a bronze in the Russian Women’s Super League Division I. On a more localized level, she is a three-time gold medalist in the St. Petersburg Championship.