Hello everyone! My name is Togzhan Amankeldy. I am 21 years old now. I don't have an interesting story about student exchange programs, but I will tell you how I enrolled in a foreign university after finishing school.
Since childhood I had a dream to study abroad, to travel to different countries. After finishing school at 17, after discussing with my mother and making the decision, I enrolled in Turkey, at Sakarya University. At first it was insanely scary for a 17-year-old girl to go alone to study abroad without her parents accompanying her. But now, when I am already 21, I understand that the decision to go study abroad was one of the right and most important in my life, which ultimately taught me to be patient, helped expand my knowledge, meet people of different cultures, and gain extremely important broad experience in student life and in later adult life.
The year 2018, it was November, my first year, my first experience in Turkey, it was the Foundation year. I studied Turkish at a language school in order to later receive education at my university. The language school was called Tomer, only foreigners studied there. As a 17-year-old girl everything was interesting to me; I learned about so many different cultures and so many different nationalities from countries of Africa and Europe, Central Asia, and East Asia. And in this language school I, without knowing it myself, befriended a person who opened America to me.
His name is Adel; by nationality he is Turkish, but he was born and lives in Canada.
At the beginning of our acquaintance, Adel and I did not know who had arrived from which country. At first we had ordinary communication, which in the end grew into friendship. Our friendly group consisted of me, a girl from Kazakhstan, and friends from Albania, Iraq and Canada. We were immensely interested together, because we learned something new about each other every day: what people eat in our countries, what the strangest dishes and drinks are, what the most beautiful places to visit are, etc. The most upsetting thing was that almost 80% of my acquaintances knew nothing about my country, let alone where Kazakhstan is located. This, of course, put me in an awkward position, but each time I told them about my homeland with interest.
One day Adel suggested we meet at a cafe, eat, drink coffee, and I of course gladly agreed. During the meeting Adel often said how his parents want him to learn Turkish. I was terribly curious to find out for what purpose his parents so strongly wished this.
As it turned out later, I learned that Adel is ethnically Turkish, which shocked me, but thanks to this unexpected fact a long conversation started between us; he talked a lot about life in Canada, America, he spoke about what interesting dishes and products they have, how they live there and periodically compared the two countries; sometimes I talked about Kazakhstan and compared the countries as well. There was even an occasion when I decided to invite my friends to dinner and gave them the opportunity to try our national dishes — the meat dish Et tamak, the fermented milk product kurt, our domestic chocolate "Kazakhstan" and other domestic products; of course, my friends were somewhat surprised that we eat horsemeat. Ah, we all laughed. Like any young people, my friends and I often said "in our country it's like this, and in Turkey it's different" and everyone laughed at our comparison, because they understood that every country has its own mentality, its own traditions, rules, its pros and cons. In short, 9–10 months of study at the language school flew by lightning fast. We received our certificates and the time to part came. Adel flew to Canada, and I stayed in Turkey to continue my studies at the university for my bachelor's degree. I remember and write my story, I understand how full of enthusiasm and energy we were, how much we strove for everything new and dreamed as a whole friendly group.
You are probably thinking, why am I talking about this in the past tense?! You know, when a person gets older, they understand that everything that used to seem simple and so easily attainable now seems somewhat unreal.
But I remember one thing: when my friends and I saw Adel off, I promised him that we would meet again, but in America.
Four years passed since Adel's departure, and, of course, the promise I gave him is still in my memory. But my friend is not the only reason why I want to go to America.
The main reason is that I want to learn even more about our world, about a culture I very much want to get to know and befriend, expand my circle of knowledge, gain invaluable experience, improve and enrich my English, and become an example for myself.
The decision to take part in the Work & Travel program was both spontaneous and convincing. I saw that the majority of my girlfriends had participated in this program and returned from there inspired. It seemed as if they had visited another planet. My friends shared stories about how they spent time in America, how they lived there, told about newly made friends from different corners of the world, about the beauties of nature they saw with their own eyes. Their captivating accounts of America made me inspired too. I began to think about the program, but while I hesitated I weighed all the pros and cons, and then I thought: "I, who moved to a completely foreign country at 17, where there was no one nearby except myself, do I really need to be afraid to go to America?! If I don't gain huge experience there, I certainly won't lose anything."
Then I told my mother everything, showed her and convinced her that this program could become a pivotal moment in my development and future life. Of course my mother did not hesitate for a second, and at that moment we contacted the organizers of Work and Travel and signed all the necessary documents. At that time I had a natural fear; thoughts were spinning in my head: "Am I doing the right thing, what will it be like for me in America, will I be able to be alone on another continent?" and a million other questions prevented me from relaxing. Perhaps I looked calm on the outside, but inside a revolution was raging.
How will participating in the program help me in my future career?
For many it is no secret that America is a model country, and even creates a WOW effect. Many films and TV series we grew up with have always urged us to be decisive, fearless, confident, able to stand up for ourselves when necessary. Even the majority of the top, best universities in the world are located in America. The very fact that you have been to America not to rest for a week, but as part of the WORK AND TRAVEL program is a huge plus in your career, because it shows your desire to learn something new. It indicates the courage and curiosity of a person who was able to overcome the fear of living in another country and cross an entire ocean for the sake of their goal and dream.
Yes, we can endlessly talk about how this program gives incredible opportunities in our future careers, but it's another thing to prove it and show it in practice.
From this program and from myself I expect only the best. I want to see how different our mentality is, how people my age live, what situations will help me become even better, smarter, and more experienced. I want to feel what it's like to live in that country about which global TV channels talk, about which many of the world's scientists speak, which all children, teenagers and adults know. I want to see the country where the technologies of the future are created, where fashion and style are born. I wish to see the country from which the most famous scientists, presidents and celebrities come. I want to understand what America can teach me so that my contribution to the future leaves an indelible mark. I want to make sure whether America is the country I've heard about, the one that is extremely attractive to me.