Participant of the regional contest “Young Person of the Year - 2025” in the nomination “Heart Devoted to Donetsk Region” Ksenia MININA
My name is Ksenia Minina. Despite the fact that I was born and raised in the south of Ukraine, Donetsk region is forever in my heart.
Now I work as an organizational teacher and English teacher at the Volnovakha hub educational institution, as well as at the Cultural Services Center of the Volnovakha City Territorial Community.
I was born in the city of Pervomaisk, Mykolaiv region. After completing 9th grade, in 2005, I entered the Mykolaiv State Higher Music College, where I received a degree in guitar, orchestra and ensemble performance, and folk orchestra conducting. Since 2010, I have been working at the Pervomaisk Children's Music School and simultaneously pursuing my higher education at Mykolaiv State University, majoring in Music, Ethics, Aesthetics and Artistic Culture.
In early 2020, I discovered Donetsk region. At the call of my soul, I moved to Volnovakha. Then I realized that I knew almost nothing about this region, because I had been living in the thrall of myths and stereotypes for a long time. Since then, I started talking about Donetsk region on social media, breaking down prejudices and popularizing the region's tourist attractions under the hashtag #I_will_fall_in_love_with_Donbas.
In September 2020, I started working as a guitar teacher at the Volnovakha Community Art School and as the head of the Arpeggio guitar ensemble. I believe that this period was the beginning of the flowering of my creative career. My students were actively involved in the artistic life of the school and the community, representing Volnovakha at city and national competitions. In particular, our ensemble has repeatedly won prizes at such important festivals as Karabits-Debut and the Herman Zhukovsky Competition, and also became a diploma winner at the Poltava Colors competition. We actively participated in New Year's musical performances, and my students became winners of school competitions, preparing for the regional level.
Unfortunately, due to the full-scale invasion, my family and I were forced to leave the city, as were many of my students. I lost the opportunity to work, but we all became the voice of Donetsk region where we were. I know that my students continued to play music even in shelters and shelter. For example, the story of Vitya Bilyk, who played guitar on the stage of the church where his family found temporary shelter, became known on social media and he became the subject of a UNICEF Ukraine story.
In 2023, I joined the team of the Volnovakha Community Cultural Services Center. Since then, my students and I have been actively participating in online and offline events in different cities, representing our community with dignity. Our participants have won prizes at folk art competitions, participated in theatrical performances, been participants and finalists in regional and national competitions such as “In a free, new family...” and “Strong in spirit IN UA”, and received diplomas at patriotic song festivals.
During the full-scale invasion, I clearly realized that culture and knowledge of a foreign language are also weapons in the fight against the occupier. Since childhood, I have been fond of learning languages, so in 2023 I decided to become an English teacher so that children from Volnovakha could communicate confidently abroad. Currently, I am studying part-time at Berdiansk Pedagogical University, and since February 2024 I have been working as an English teacher at the Volnovakha hub educational institution. In 2025, after studying at Arizona State University (USA), I received a TESOL certificate, an internationally recognized document that certifies a high level of knowledge and proficiency in English, as well as the skills and knowledge to teach English to children, adolescents, and adults.
I am proud of the results of my students in learning English. They have become regular participants and winners of the Na Urok (For the Lesson) All-Ukrainian Internet Olympiad. In the academic year 2024-2025, I organized conversation clubs with native speakers in our school together with the Go Global educational foundation to encourage students to learn the language.
I do not plan to stop there. My goal is to continue working and developing Donetsk region!