These are challenging times for students around the world, but it’s likely that only one student has to climb a 26-foot birch tree to attend Zoom classes.
Alexey Dudoladov, 21, who is studying to be a mechanical engineer in the Russian province of Siberia, has found that the only location from which to obtain a proper Internet signal is in a treetop 1,000 feet from his home.
“I have to walk into the woods, climb a birch tree… then join Zoom to talk to my teachers to prove I’m not skipping lectures,” Dudoladov says in the accompanying footage.
Dudoladov, who switched to online classes in early November because of the Covid-19 pandemic, told the Siberian Times that climbing the tree in frigid temperatures poses serious health risks.
The student at Omsk Institute of Water Transport is pleading with the region’s governor and education officials to provide better Internet access in his rural community, about 100 miles from Omsk city.
The Siberian Times reports that Dudoladov is being heard, citing a TikTok version of his video plea that has garnered more than 1 million views.
A spokesperson with the regional education ministry is quoted as saying, “We will definitely help Alexey.”
On climbing the birch tree to find a signal, Dudoladov said: “It was fine during the summer, but it’s getting quite cold now. I’ve got to pay with my health, and I’ve already suffered double pneumonia.”
–Images and video courtesy of Alexey Dudoladov, via the Siberian Times