"Now and in the future"

Satmuhambetova Araylym, 87781153127, thesakh@icloud.com

For some, travel is just an impossible dream, while for others, it is a way to step out of their comfort zone and broaden their horizons. As a university student, every young person dreams of going abroad at least once, yet without fully understanding the essence of the process and facing rejection from their parents, they leave it to fate.

Student life is the moment of forming the real "you," when you have to understand what you want from life and what you can do to achieve it. And one day, you will get a chance to correct your path—when you learn about student exchange programs. In modern society, all information is available on the internet, and advertising for programs on social media increases interest with every view. But a person who has just learned about this opportunity acts in one of two ways. Let me illustrate with two individuals.

The first person is "X". He has always dreamed of going abroad, watches movies in English, attended extra courses back in school, and then, while lying on his bed on the weekend scrolling through his TikTok feed, he saw a video of someone talking about their experience in the USA, how they got into a student exchange program and are spending the most unforgettable moments of their life. After watching this video, no one would be left without motivation, and accordingly, person "X" saved it. But the next day, everything was forgotten, and the video moved further and further down in his saved items. A month later, he accidentally met an old acquaintance at a bus stop, and they started a conversation during which the friend said he was going to apply for an exchange program and suggested he fulfill his dream too. Thinking it over before bed, person "X" decided that he wouldn't be able to pass the selection anyway, that his English was weak, that he didn't want to spend money on it, that others were better than him, and so on. In a word, he looked for excuses for everything, and as a result, these very excuses defeated him. But who knew that at the same time, someone named "Y" was building his destiny in parallel. After classes at the university, he was returning home on bus #9 and thinking about life. Once, he dreamed of becoming a traveler like in "Oryol i Reshka," having a gold card and living in the moment, but now he had zero motivation to do anything, and he didn't understand what he wanted at all. In the evening, while he was doing his homework, his younger brother entered the room, put a brochure on the table, and said that he would need it more. The brochure was about the "Work and Travel" program, where everything was described in detail. After reading all the pages, sparks appeared in his eyes; he was already imagining himself walking through Times Square and taking a photo with the flag of Kazakhstan. And suddenly he thought: "What if I don't pass? What if they don't approve my visa? What if they don't like me?" and such thoughts haunted him until night. But he decided to go for it, because you only live once, and you have to live it without regrets. Thus, in the morning at the table, he told his parents about it, after which the expression on their faces changed, and they started saying things like "they are scammers, why would they send you abroad?", "do you want to run away from us?", "isn't studying here enough for you?", "do you think you'll pass with your level of English?"...

There was nothing to say in response. What did he expect, and what did he get as a result? Only disappointment in life. He just left the brochure and left the house. What was the probability that his parents would let him go and support him? At the moment, 0%.

During the break between classes, everyone was sitting in the cafeteria, where they were heatedly discussing their future. One girl said that her brother had been to the USA 2 years ago on a student exchange program, and after that, he changed 180 degrees in a good way; he became open and cheerful, and most importantly, he realized that he wanted to be a top-level chef, and now he is studying to be a head chef.

"I wish I could do that," thought person "Y". And suddenly, a classmate sitting nearby said: "If this is your dream, then don't give it up; hold on as hard as you can, and only then will you see the result."

'He's right, maybe I just need to talk to my parents like an adult; they are worried about me too. The main thing is to explain everything to them in detail as it should be.' That's what he did. Although at first he didn't manage to establish good contact, in the end, his parents agreed to go with him to the application center. And so began the busy days of learning something new.

And suddenly he realized, as he sat in front of his coordinator and received his long-awaited visa. A VISA? YES, A VISA!

Could it be that everything came true?

Everything comes true if you put in a little effort, because the result will definitely not disappoint anyone. What did I want to show with this? Well, life is a complex mathematical function in which you will either become X or Y. And the formula in this case is y=x+1, x - a person with dreams and doubts;

1 - effort, hard work, and persistence;

y - a person with a result and a victory over themselves. Each time the function formula becomes more and more complex, so to solve them, you need to start with this, and then it will become easier to understand.

This was all happening now, but what will happen in the future?

20 years later, person "X" was sitting and watching his favorite program "Over the World" on TV and was still dreaming of being abroad, while at the same time, person "Y" was also sitting and watching the same program on TV and thinking, "How young I look on TV, where should I film the next episode?!"...