Destination: Poland, Germany, Czech Republic

Despite the fact that I lived most of my life in Ukraine, I was not able to travel that much. When I was 8, I had a chance to travel to Germany, France, and Switzerland. However, that was so long time ago and I could barely remember anything. Given that I am a student, my budget, unfortunately, couldn’t allow me traveling whenever and wherever I wanted. But I kept hoping that one day I would get that opportunity. And that day did come. 6 years ago I came to study in the States. In addition, last summer, I was accepted to and granted a scholarship in a summer school under the main topic “Cultures in Transition / Polish and German Studies” that took place on the border of Germany and Poland – Frankfurt (Oder) / Słubice. It was a 40-day program that included seminars in history and cultural studies. In addition, we were offered an intensive language course in Polish. It was fantastic! I got to do two favorite things of mine – traveling and learning foreign languages. As a bonus, I made so many interesting and extraordinary friends during that trip. I guess if you really dream about something, you will get it  Somebody would be skeptical about studying during summer, but not me! Even though we, as program participants, had to attend seminars and language classes during the week, we had lots of fun. The program let me think about so many things from a different angle. Like they say, history cannot be objective, and what I learned back in my high school was challenged dozens of times during the program and the debates/discussions with my friends from the program. During weekends, I was working on my bucket list of places I wanted to see. And what was more important I had a reunion with two very special friends of mine who used to be exchange students to the USA and got to see my family in Ukraine! Unfortunately, I am not a good writer, so I struggle expressing all the spectrum of feelings I got to experience last summer. Good thing I took lots of pictures that will serve me a good reminder of that trip and that dreams do come true.