America... I think everyone dreams of visiting it at least once in their life... well, what can I say, I was no exception, and I was also drawn to this distant and, at that time, so unreachable country. If someone had told me a year ago that I would go to America and spend almost an entire summer there, I honestly wouldn't have believed it, and I would have laughed at that person for a long time...

For me, everything actually happened very quickly and unexpectedly... I had known about the Work and Travel program for a long time, but after mentioning it to my mom just once, I immediately forgot about it... The thing is, all my conscious life I was a homebody, I never went anywhere, and I didn't leave home for long. Therefore, I constantly had to prove to my parents that their daughter was already independent and had a good head on her shoulders. But parents are parents, and the thought of their child living in another country, on a completely different continent, terrified them... in the end, I almost gave up, when suddenly a miracle happened, if you can call it that... In short, somewhere at the end of August, I found out that a classmate of mine had gone through the Work and Travel program... so what, you might think, but for me, it was a lifeline... You see, this classmate of mine was a very "well-known personality" among teachers and parents while we were in school, as almost all parent-teacher meetings started with the topic of his absenteeism, poor grades, etc. In principle, in English, he only knew basic phrases like: "Hello, how are you?", "I am fine, thank you!" and that was probably it. In short, I decided this was my chance... so to speak, if this didn't help, I could bury my dream. My mom's reaction to the news that this classmate of mine had gone on the Work and Travel program, returned home safe and sound, and even earned money, exceeded all my expectations... to say she was surprised would be an understatement... she was in shock! And then I went into battle: "Well, how is it possible, if he could do it, then I can too!" Long arguments, reflections, and conversations began, and in the end, I won! My happiness knew no bounds! My dream had become one, albeit a very small, step closer to coming true...