Everyone strives to change their life for the better, to discover something new by stepping out of their comfort zone, thereby proving to themselves that everything is possible, even if fear is present. In my opinion, this is exactly what youth travel and student exchange programs teach. If you look at participating in these programs from all angles, you won't find any downsides at all. By participating, you gain colossal experience living abroad; you learn to live independently, take responsibility for yourself, answer for your actions, and, of course, the most pleasant part: you earn money that you then spend with pleasure.
My participation in the program was a spontaneous decision. Although, as long as I can remember, I always wanted to go to America and travel around it. I decided on this adventure after I heard that a girl from my year (my friend) was going. That was when I made the decision to participate in Work and Travel USA. I didn't want to miss such a chance, as I was already in my 3rd year (the penultimate one) of university. At that moment, I thought that at least it wouldn't be scary if there were two of us. But, in the end, she refused to participate at the last moment, and I decided to continue alone. And I didn't regret it at all. Although I was very nervous and, to be honest, it was a bit scary to go alone.
For me, participating in the program was simply luck; I was just lucky. After all, having analyzed everything that was happening then, I could have not even made it to the visa interview at the US Embassy. The date and time of the interview coincided with the date and time of my coursework defense before the commission. I still remember calling my academic supervisor and tearfully trying to explain the whole situation and asking to reschedule the defense. And I just got lucky at that moment: I defended my coursework over the phone! I'm still in shock from that.
Recalling my interview, I can say that I was lucky there too, and I got the consul I wanted (there were two consuls in total: the first one had many refusals, the second one didn't use the word 'No' as often). I ended up with the second one. I remember that I was number 38, and there were 5 refusals in a row before me. I was very worried and prayed to get the second consul. And that's what happened. He turned out to be a very cheerful person, we joked a lot. The consul asked me where I study and where I see myself in the future. I replied that since I am studying international relations, I want to work in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to which he said: 'I hope that good relations will be established between the USA and Belarus, and you will contribute to this.' We all laughed together then, and he said that my visa was approved. That's how it was.
Getting closer to my trip, I can say that it wasn't smooth. It taught me a lot: independence, responsibility; it led me to the realization that I am alone in another country and can only rely on myself. And I realized one most important thing: never trust anyone and always verify information. This is a story about how I lost $300 and lived for a week in terrible conditions.
It all started when my employer sent me a job offer and options for where I could rent housing. I wrote to many people, and a woman replied. I liked the interior, the layout of the house, that is, everything was in order, nothing foreshadowed trouble. I arrived in Wildwood late in the evening – around 10:00 PM. It was dark, I didn't have an American SIM card, I couldn't call or go online. Honestly, at that moment, I didn't know what to do. And suddenly, guys from Thailand approached me, and one girl said that she was leaving soon and didn't need her SIM card, and she gave it to me. I was in shock and pleasantly surprised. This once again shows and proves that the world is not without kind people. After that, I found this ill-fated house.
Arriving there, I was in terrible shock and didn't understand if I had come to the right place. There were 11 people on one floor, 4 small rooms, and a small kitchen. The landlady took me to a room where two people were already staying: a girl and a boy. There was no space at all. I kept silent at that moment because it was already late. I want to say that when we were corresponding, she said something completely different and sent completely different photos.
Waking up the next day, I met the guys and decided to discuss this not-so-good situation. It turned out that they also didn't expect such a turn of events. I lived there for a week because I couldn't find new housing right away. The last straw was that the shower and vacuum cleaner were broken, and she accused the girls from Jamaica of breaking these things, calling them 'black monkeys' – using racist words. By the way, for the record, the landlady is Russian, who immigrated to the USA 40 years ago (she married an American, and this house was left to her by her now-deceased husband).
By chance, we found out that her license for her business had expired, and we decided to inform the tax office first that she had been operating without it since 2015. She somehow found out about this and early in the morning, without our knowledge, went to get this license. We called the tax office, and in the end, we were told that she had been there in the morning. As a result, she got away with everything.
Then we decided to file a police report against her for racist remarks. But, unfortunately, their legal system turned out to be powerless in this situation as well. The police couldn't even help us get back our deposit and the money we had already paid for 2 weeks. As a result, I lost $300 as soon as I arrived in America. But even that didn't spoil my impression of America. I took it as a lesson. If anyone who wants to go is reading this, the name of this house is 'Sweet Home' – I do not recommend it under any circumstances!
After that, I moved to a wonderful house located five minutes from the ocean, near the Boardwalk (this is a promenade with a huge number of shops, cafes; two amusement parks located on the ocean shore), and life improved, if you can say so.
This was the only such negative moment, which, as you can see, I survived.
It wasn't so scary after that. This situation happened through my own fault, so you always need to be attentive to all details and your belongings. This is a story about how I almost lost my passport. Once, I was driving home from work, got out, and walked to the door. At that moment, I didn't even notice that my passport had fallen out of my bag. It spent the whole night outside, and it was raining heavily, as luck would have it. I would never have known that I lost my passport if it weren't for my roommate, who brought it to me and asked if it was mine. Let's just say, seeing it, I thought they wouldn't let me out of the country, really. My photo was all pale, it was almost impossible to see that it was me. The whole page was smudged. But, unfortunately or fortunately, they let me out of America, out of Istanbul, but... I was detained upon arrival in Minsk, and I spent 2 hours at the airport while they examined my passport!!! That's how things are.
I can say that I never once regretted turning to the International Exchange Center @iec_minsk agency and going on the Work and Travel USA program. I improved my English and Spanish, which was a priority for me, met guys from different countries, and we still communicate, earned a fairly large sum of money, and traveled around America. I even met the police! They are, by the way, very polite, but they can't help with anything... basically, like everywhere else.
And, of course, I fulfilled my dream and lived in New York for a month!
Therefore, I urge everyone not to be afraid and to participate in the program, because it is worth it.
And I hope that in the future, student exchange programs will be outside of politics. That, regardless of the relations between countries on the international stage, every citizen of their country will be able to get a visa without problems, go on an exciting trip, and fulfill their dream.