Question: what subjects did you take at school?

Artem Evdokimov answered on 13 Jun 2012:

School system in the USSR did not allow one to choose which subjects to take. It was fixed curriculum (the same across the entire nation, on the base level) and you had to take all the courses, or else…

My school somehow was allowed to make an emphasis on natural sciences, which meant that some of the humanities courses were lighter than they were supposed to be.

I would recommend that a young scientist should take as much scientific courses as possible, but don’t ignore the humanities either – they give you breadth of perspective!