My apologies for posts overload - just want to get it all out while in the mood.

Все универы, в которые я подавалась, трабовали заполниния common application, которая включает биографичпескую и аккадемическую информацию, одно стандартное эссе, место для дополнительной информации либо эссе + секцию для специфических эссе, требуемых отдельными колледжами. Тема главного эссе звучит приблизительно так: "Explain your reasons for transferring and objectives you hope to achieve". Поскольку тем, что, по моему мнению, в какой-то мере выделяет меня из толпы является мой опыт опэирства и попытки построить собственное будущее за тысячи километров от дома без посторонней помощи, я решила, что мое вступительное сочинение должено быть направлено в другое русло. Руководствуясь этим убеждением, я использовала первое эссе, чтобы рассказать о себе, а секцию для дополнительной информации для ответа на вопрос о целях и причинах моего перевода. Если интересно, загляните под кат.

Mission Impossible
I could clearly hear a wild rhythm of my heart that echoed in my ears as I was crossing a long hallway that led to the arrivals area. A group of people was lined up along the barrier, ready to welcome those who finally made it through immigration, many holding up signs with names of the passengers. Looking intently for a well-known combination of eight letters, I could not chase away the feeling that everything in front of me was a part of an elaborate dream sequence that would evaporate as soon as I opened my eyes. Yet, I knew that it wasn’t – that having kissed my crying mother goodbye just ten hours ago, I was in fact standing surrounded by the unfamiliar sound of foreign language on the other end of the world. “Au-pair in America” said a large sign in the hands of a tall black woman at the very end of the line. Although it did not have my name on it, I knew who she was waiting for – it was me, a twenty-year old Ukrainian girl who, torn between fear and excitement, was clenching to her enormous suitcase in the middle of the JFK airport.

Just a little over a year earlier, America could not have seemed less likely to become my life’s next destination. About to begin my junior year at Sevastopol State Technical University, I had been struggling to stay motivated in the face of the rather bleak prospects my future appeared to hold. An aspiring interpreter, I came to realize that the education I was getting gave me absolutely nothing as, despite excelling in every subject and working well above the required minimum, two years into my studies I still could hardly understand a children’s cartoon. Limited in my practice to old textbooks and conversations with fellow students, I knew that three more years of schooling were unlikely to make much difference. Yet unable to find any financially feasible alternatives, I saw no choice but to continue in the same direction – until, by some mysterious coincidence, I stumbled upon the Au Pair program that offered an incredible opportunity to learn English in the United States in exchange for working full-time as a live-in nanny.

Pondering over my accidental discovery, I understood very well that venturing abroad before completion of my studies was not the most reasonable of choices. Still, wasting another three years of my life on a subpar education that placed an enormous burden on my financially struggling family was even more difficult to justify. Becoming an au pair did not hold the promise of a degree – yet what it offered somehow seemed significantly more important: English language aside, I knew that across the ocean from home, I had a chance of finding a longed-for escape from suffocating constraints that had been imposed on me by my family’s meager resources for as long as I could remember. It was inspired by this inexplicable confidence in the opportunities that awaited me abroad that I decided to drop out of college and more than a year later boarded a plane to New York City.

An Au Pair to a 9-year old boy in a small New Jersey family, upon arrival, I was quickly pulled into a whirlwind of exciting adventures, devoting my plentiful free time to exploring the American culture, meeting new people, and simply taking pleasure in life unrestricted by parental supervision. Yet as much as I enjoyed the splendid beginning of my abroad experience, after a few months of bliss, I could no longer disregard the fact that neither my au pair routine that revolved around cleaning up toys and mixing Mac & Cheese nor my carefree existence outside of work brought me any closer to my goals. Having reached fluency in English much faster than I had expected, few months into the program, I could not help but notice that I was beginning to sink into a quagmire of routine tasks and a lack of mental challenges. With many more months left until the end of my commitment, I knew that the only way to justify continuing my stay in the United States was to make this time count.

I found a sense of direction in yet another unorthodox venture that in the fall of 2008 brought me to Sussex County Community college as a full-time student. No, I did not quit the program to pursue a new objective – unable to rely on anything other than my weekly stipend, and without a place to call home, I could not even if I wanted to. Seeking where to take six college credits required by the program, I however came to realize that even though very modest, my au pair earnings could cover up to the full cost of obtaining a degree at a community college. Legally unrestricted as to how many classes I was allowed to take, I simply could not ignore the amazing opportunity this discovery seemed to present: With just a few sacrifices on my part, I had a chance of acquiring the exact kind of valuable experience I set out to find when I decided to put my education on hold in order to become an au pair.

It is difficult to point out the exact moment when what began as a temporary experiment designed to add some sophistication to my command of English language transformed into a full-fledged quest for the degree – there was neither a sudden epiphany nor a life-altering event that made me change my mind. Nevertheless, months before my “freshman” year was over, I already knew that my SCCC experience was more than just another adventure as, after getting a glimpse of what my college had to offer, I could no longer imagine returning to the mediocrity of the Ukrainian System of Higher Education, of which my former university was but one example. With this understanding in mind, I did not need to think much about the direction I wanted to take after the program was over: By the time my final decision needed to be made, I had become too invested into my studies not to at least attempt completing what I had started. Encouraged by the kindness of my host family, who, after ceasing to be my employers extended their support as friends by inviting me to stay in their home for as long as I needed, I therefore determined to complete my education in the United States.

If nothing else, this application is a testimony to my unbridled optimism, my somewhat reckless adventurousness, and my aversion to following safe, well-trodden paths. More important, however, it is a testimony to my drive and determination to never settle for average when it comes to learning. Even though relatively new, this mindset has come to define virtually every aspect of my life, allowing me to make it all the way from standing in the middle of the JFK airport with meager five hundred dollars in my pocket to being only a few months away from walking in a graduation ceremony at SCCC. It almost goes without saying that having come this far, I do not intend to stop at what I have managed to accomplish and hope to continue my education beyond my Associates in Science. As much as I appreciate many quantifiable benefits of obtaining a Bachelor’s degree from an American college, however, they are not what continues to motivate my protracted quest for a diploma – if I wanted just a piece of paper to frame on the wall, I would have never traded the comforts of my family and home for many challenges I encountered abroad. As with my participation in the au-pair program and my choices thenceforth, what I truly want is an unforgettable life experience that will become a stepping stone to even greater endeavors. I want to learn.