I, Utkan Baikal Demir, a citizen of Turkey, a student of the Faculty of Music and Choreography at the South Ukrainian National Pedagogical University named after K.D. Ushynsky from 2012 to 2016, received a specialist diploma and master's degree, completed postgraduate studies, and received PhD in Pedagogical Sciences. 

I didn’t choose Ukraine to study by chance, but I knew that I would get a high-quality higher education there. That is why I wanted to study in Ukraine, particularly in Odessa - the city where the pearls of culture and art are concentrated, in the oasis of the Black Sea region. 

The knowledge that I received while studying at the university, I successfully implemented in my professional activities. At the moment, I am the head of the Department of Music of the Pedagogical Faculty at the Agri Ibrahim Cecen University. I teach such disciplines as solfeggio, music theory, harmony, musical form, history of music and arrangement. Besides my teaching activities, I published three books and am currently working on the fourth one. 

I always remember the years of study in Ukraine only on the positive side. Every teacher at the Ushynsky University is distinguished by deep knowledge, high professional skills. I would like to point out especially the dean of the faculty Natalia Belova, the head of master's work and dissertation research Natalia Kion, my teachers Olena Rebrova, Alla Lynenko, Vitaly Melnychenko, Sergey Shyp, Tatiana Shafarchuk and many others. They all kindly treated me and other foreign students and were always ready to help us in a variety of issues of education and life. 

I sincerely wish all the applicants and students studying in Ukraine not to miss the chance to get a high-quality music pedagogical education. I recommend that you use your time wiselywhile studying and adopt attentively the knowledge and experience of the teachers of this university on the way of achieving competitiveness and success in your future professional activity.