From New Immigrant to Technion Standout
A Personal Narrative from Nikita Matrosov
I was born in Moldova, where my family ran the local office of the Jewish Agency. I watched them help other Jewish families fulfill their dream of coming to Israel, long before we managed to do it ourselves. We finally made aliyah, and today I am an undergraduate in the Henry and Marilyn Taub Faculty of Computer Science at the Technion.
The road was anything but simple. My parents were busy learning Hebrew, working hard to support us, and trying to build a new life from scratch in Akko. Often, I faced challenges on my own. But my training in wrestling, where I became a multiple time national champion, helped. On the mat I learned how to fall, stand up, and fight again.
I always aim as high as I can, and in Israel, computer science at the Technion is one of the most demanding and respected paths. I struggled to pass the psychometric exam, the standardized test for university admission. My persistence paid off, and I earned the grades needed to attend the Technion.
Arriving at the Technion felt like entering a world where ideas shape the future of Israel. Here I’m learning that computer science is not just about writing code. It teaches you how to think, how to break a big problem into smaller parts, and how to build smart solutions.
Nikita Matrosov
In my second semester, on October 7, war broke into our lives. One moment I was solving algorithms; the next I was worrying about my friends, my family, and the fate of Israel. Technion lecturers and administrators were understanding and enormously helpful to me and fellow students struggling with fallout from the war. I lived in the dorms, which helped me focus on my academics and made it easier to deal with the intensity of studying computer science.
Alongside my studies, I am active in ISEF (Israel Scholarship Education Foundation), where I work with first-generation students like me to guide them on a path toward leadership and social responsibility. My goal was simple and personal: to turn a group of strangers into a community where each young person can say, “I belong.”
Nikita Matrosov, 2026 Berger Visiting Fellow
Currently I am completing my fifth semester with an average of 91. Every grade, every project, is built on hard work, sleepless nights, and the belief that our future as a country depends on the people we train in our universities today. I also train regularly, before sunrise, in the Technion’s well-equipped sports center. These early-morning workouts remind me to work hard, remain disciplined, and keep my body and mind strong even when life is busy.
In the future, I would like to enter the software industry, learn the real world, and understand the needs of people and organizations. I hope to use software to create solutions that will improve our lives as a society in areas like security, education, and social services.
About the Program
The Ilene & Steve Berger Technion Visiting Fellows Program features the University’s greatest assets: its students. Meet them face to face. Hear their stories. Discover their groundbreaking research, bold aspirations, and the sacrifices they have made through more than two years of war. These remarkable students are not only persevering — they are driven by a profound determination to use science to solve the world’s greatest problems.
