Shkolina was born in Yartsevo. As a teenager she won the silver medals at the 2003 World Youth Championships and the 2004 World Junior Championships and the gold medal at the 2005 European Junior Championships. Her personal bests were 1.88 metres in 2003 (Krasnodar, May), 1.91 metres in 2004 (Grosseto, WJC, July), and 1.92 metres in 2005 (Mannheim, June). In 2007, she won another gold medal, at the 2007 European U23 Championships, where both Shkolina and Adonia Steryiou cleared 1.92 metres but failed at 1.95 metres. She also improved her personal best to 1.96 metres in Tula in June 2007, having only managed to equal 1.92 metres during the 2006 season.