“There were only two people chosen from the United States,” Nikolai Shebalin said. “And one of them was myself, from Skyline College, a community college student, and the other one was a PhD candidate from Harvard.”

Shebalin, who is majoring in archeology here at Skyline, had the opportunity to excavate an old Viking settlement in a town called Starajaladoga, found in Northern Russia. Along with other scientists and students from countries like Austria, Norway, Lithuania, and Britain, Shebalin did this by entering an international competition for field school in Russia. Two to three people from each country were chosen, and he was one of the lucky two from the U.S.

On this all-paid-for expedition, which lasted from July to August of 2003, 3,000 artifacts were found, and 830 of them were of unique historical significance.

During the first week of this dig, President Vladimir Putin of Russia, accompanied by five helicopters full of snipers and special forces, came to the excavation site Shebalin and the rest of his team were working on. This expedition held such a high interest because the artifacts found in Starajaladoga could prove that this town was a center of commerce, further moving it to be the original ancient capitol of Russia.

“It was a really interesting new experience,” Shebalin said. “This excavation, this whole expedition, is going to rewrite the history books for that part of Europe.”

Shebalin, who before going back to school at the age of 31 and getting “hooked” on archeology, was also once a commercial airline pilot.

“Truthfully, it’s what I always wanted to do in life,” Shebalin said. “Be an archeologist and be a pilot. I had to do both.”

He worked for an airplane dealer for four years and delivered airplanes to Utah, Nevada, Arizona, and many other states. But after 9/11, the company he worked for went bankrupt. So, in January of 2001, Shebalin decided to pursue his dream of being an archeologist by going back to school.

“Everything I learned about archeology that was applicable came from Lori Slicton and through Jeff Sanchez. They really taught me everything I know and apparently they taught me quite a lot because the Russians were pretty impressed with the knowledge I have.”

So impressed, in fact, that Russia’s head archeologist, Antoly Kirpichnikov, wants only two out of the forty people who went on this expedition to go back to Russia next summer: Shebalin in particular, and another student from Germany.

Until then, Shebalin plans to have this next spring semester as his last semester here at Skyline. From here, he will double major in archeology and history at San Francisco State University in hopes of becoming a teacher.

“Teaching at a community college level is what I really want to do,” Shebalin said referring to Skyline College. “This place really made a difference in my life… this whole archeological dig, expedition, and excavation doesn’t say as much about me as it says about the level of education that I got here.”