I waited for my friend to return until mid-September, and when she finally did, I rushed to ask her all about it. I finally had a goal: I desperately wanted to go to America. When I told my friends, they wished me 'good luck' but didn't think I was serious or that I would pursue my goal so relentlessly. It's funny to look back at how I started nagging my parents about America; I don't even remember much of it, but thank God they supported me and said they would help. Now, there was 'just a little' left to do: learn English and get into university. My parents started noticing I was becoming a bit more serious. At first, I arranged for my friend (who had been to America) to tutor me in English, and we became close friends (spoiler alert: we are now Best friends). We studied together for about 3 months. Meanwhile, I was in 11th grade and had to decide where to apply... so my parents and I sat down to think. Mom said she would send me somewhere where they teach English, so we decided on a foreign languages department. We found a good tutor, I studied a lot, and they prepared me for the Unified State Exam (EGE). Quite by accident, probably in February, I stumbled upon a major at our Perm University called International Business. The name itself hooked me; I learned more about it and realized this was it—I wanted both English and economics. I told my parents, and they said, 'Go for it, if you get in, everything will be fine,' but first, I had to pass the EGE. Then May arrived, exam time, and I was barely ready, but thank God I passed and got my diploma WITHOUT any C's. In June, my friend took off to the States again, and I spent nights talking to her on ICQ or she would call my landline, and at the same time, I would look at her new photos. Ahead was university admission. When I went to submit my documents, it turned out I had to have an interview with the dean, and it was up to his discretion whether I would get in or not. It also turned out that the major I chose was the most prestigious (among various other economic ones) and expensive in Perm. I was terribly nervous before the interview, but it wasn't difficult at all. That's how I became a student at Perm State University! And remember how it was in the beginning? I had no goal at all, but after nights on the internet and looking at photos of America, everything turned out like this (it's like a Cinderella story).