I was born in a small town 200 miles south of Kazakhstan, which meant that my relatives spoke Russian, Tatar, Bashkir, Kazakh, Belarusian, Uzbek, Turkish and Arabic. I grew up in a whirlwind of cultures and traditions, which made me ever-more curious about the world and its wonderful, unique people. Even though my family could never afford it, I still dreamt of traveling abroad, and I manifested this dream through my writing. I would spend hours carefully researching different countries and crafting short stories and novellas based in my dream destinations. Eventually, my love for writing introduced me to a dream that would set the course for my entire life — a dream of traveling to America where I would be free to study anything I’d wanted, whether it was writing or economics. A dream turned into a goal. A goal turned into a plan. A plan turned into hundreds of hours of learning English, studying online college guides, writing personal statements, crying over ACT exam sheets and filling out lengthy applications. Some days, I would wake up and jump out of my bed ready to stare into my Advanced Grammar in Use until my eyes hurt. Other days, the whole venture seemed utterly impossible — how could I, a small town girl who hadn’t even travelled abroad once, receive a full scholarship to study in the US?
Nevertheless, that’s precisely what I did. I still remember a crispy clear March morning, when I woke up at 6 am with a weird feeling inside my chest. And here it was in my mailbox, an email from Duke Admissions starting with “Congratulations!”. Not only did I receive full financial aid at one of the best universities in the world, but I was also nominated for a scholarship that would allow me to pursue global projects and professional opportunities. I never knew I had wings before, but that day, I flew to school instead of taking the bus. And five months later, I was on the plane to New York City, ready to begin the biggest adventure of my life. The adventure that continues to this day.