"If you want to change the world, start with yourself."

M. Gandhi

Every person always strives to be better, stronger, younger, and more beautiful. They want to change themselves, their surroundings, and their lives for the better as much as possible. For example, people always strive for higher-ranking jobs, want to earn more, and even if their mobile phone is not outdated, they try to buy a new model every year.

I was one of those many people. I was looking for opportunities that, with the resources I had, would provide food for my life, bring fresh ideas, and, most importantly, change my perspective on life at a wider angle. That is why, on October 9, 2021, while returning from my first debate tournament of my student life, I met a graduate of that year's Work and Travel program and decided to take a big step. And it took me a whole week to convince my mother, who didn't even want to send her only daughter to study in Almaty, let alone snowy Karaganda. Once this goal was achieved, Ayaulym, having rolled up her sleeves, started with the first step — getting a passport...

Even when I was applying for the program and getting my visa, I didn't believe that I would go to the USA and see that place. For me, a simple girl from a simple village where no one in the family had ever seen abroad, this was an absolutely impossible dream. My first reason for wanting to go was that I wanted to prove to myself that it was possible to go abroad. I have many dreams, like showing my mother all the best things in the world, and to believe that my dream would come true, I had to go abroad myself first. Secondly, I dreamed of meeting people who look at life through a completely different prism. Their consciousness has been raised in a different mentality, in a different society and environment since they opened their eyes. Just think, for new people, the meaning of the value of friendship that we are used to is completely different. Their dining etiquette and even their greeting etiquette are completely different. It feels like falling into another world. While interacting with them, you notice how they look at every little thing; maybe something that is unimportant to you is equal to the whole world for them? Thousands of such questions did not give my mind any peace. I longed for that world so much that it became a habit for me to imagine in my head how a person raised in a different mentality would react to every situation happening in my life. (Maybe this is what visualization is?)

As for my budding career, new acquaintances and friendships, and even a new place seemed to be an endless experience that this program would provide for teaching and understanding students with different characters that I would encounter in the future. The more places I visit and the more I try to get to know people, the easier it will be for me to understand and teach my various students.

As you can see, I had very high hopes for the USA. I believed that it would change me completely and have a positive effect on all spheres of my life. Yes, that's what happened. As soon as I arrived, the people, the streets, and everything that was new to me began to teach me a new life. But what changed me the most was something completely different...

It was only the 5th day of working at a seafood restaurant in Plymouth, Massachusetts, where I went. My friend, with whom I lived and worked, and I set off for our 5 p.m. shift. We used to go to work by bicycle from a town called Kingston to Plymouth, 7 km away. Since there were no bike paths on the whole road, we were riding on the sidewalk. After riding 2-3 km, I lost control of the bicycle handlebars, fell from the sidewalk onto the road, and landed on my right knee. The bicycle fell right on my knee, and my right knee was "sandwiched" between the asphalt and the bicycle iron. Not fully understanding what had happened, I just stood up and started cleaning the dirt from my bleeding arms and legs. I got back on my bicycle and went to work without feeling much pain in my leg. I made pizza at work, and since I went to the evening shift, there were many orders coming in. I was walking with my jeans, which were torn when I fell, rolled up above the knee, and after 1 hour of work, when I looked at my leg, I saw my knee, which had swollen up, under the rolled-up jeans. I was very scared, called my colleagues for help, and then went home and tried to treat it myself. I thought my leg was just wounded and hurting because of a hard fall. My room was on the second floor, and for me, unable to bend my leg at all, this was a difficulty in itself. During my two days off, I stayed at home and thought about the whole situation. I told my mother about the situation, but I didn't tell her that it hurt a lot and that I couldn't walk. All I thought about was that my leg should be safe.

It is impossible to express my feelings at that time. The only daughter in the house, my mother's darling, who was brought food when she was sick at home — it was difficult for me even to get sick in Almaty. When I was sick, I felt lonely. And getting sick in the USA, being unable to walk due to a severe injury, hit me so hard that thoughts of "I will return to Kazakhstan" haunted me. When we went to the trauma center, they took an X-ray of the bone and only said that it was not broken. In those days, I felt like I had grown mentally for several years. My illusion that my mother would always be by my side protecting me seemed to have been shattered in an instant. The most difficult problem a person can have is damage to their health, and the fact that I encountered that problem far from home, without the people who would support and take care of me, taught me to look at life with a new perspective. My "new perspective" that I wanted so much showed itself to me like this. Worse, or maybe the opposite, when you are lying at home sick, your thoughts go in different directions, and you analyze various events in life. Although it was difficult at that moment, it was a feeling that taught me not to give up in the face of difficulties, that separation from your family is a normal situation, and that you need to be strong to withstand even greater difficulties in adult life. I consider this the beginning of the experiences I wanted, the biggest of them. If only you knew how I longed for the warmth of home, for how my mother kissed my forehead calling me "my little one"!

Although I felt a lot of admiration, surprise, disappointment, and strong joy in the USA, when I hear people's question "How is the USA?", this story comes to my mind, and it is this feeling that makes me shudder. By the way, my leg is healthy now, I just need to receive treatment in the future.

That decision I made in the autumn of 2021 proved to me that everything is possible. It gave me the opportunity to be financially independent and to travel easily between states. There is no "it's hard to go abroad" barrier in my mind now, I can make plans for my future related to abroad without any fear, for me studying and working abroad has become a normal and possible situation. This is what I wanted most, to realize that everything is possible. Another feeling I liked was that it removed the negative stereotypes that came from the mentality. Now I don't compare myself to 18-year-old millionaires on Instagram and don't feel like a vegetable, because I have met ambitious young people, even if they are not millionaires, and their ideas. Every person has their own values, and I realized that comparing them is as meaningless as comparing an apple and a banana by their color. It was proven once again that for me, comparing people based on their life experiences stands higher than comparing them based on their nationality, culture, and religion. In addition to being confident that my goals will be achieved, I began to supplement them with values like the thoughts of the people I have seen. For example, the two landlord brothers in our house designated every Friday as a family day for themselves, took their mother with them, and the three of them went out for a family meeting. Do you remember my dream of taking my mother abroad? Now, paying attention to my mother, talking to her every week, inviting her to a meeting, and setting a family day have been added to that dream. What makes me happy is that staying abroad for three months will also help thousands of students I will teach in the future. The fact that I can teach them many good qualities, such as the family day I learned, is a great victory for me. The fact that there are many good, honest people in this world, making friends with them and exchanging experiences — formed another home for me on the globe.

Another thing that makes me happy is that I was able to travel around such a big country as the USA at the age of 19. Because, for example, if I had started traveling at the age of 23, I would have thought and perceived all the feelings I went through differently. Just as you experience completely different feelings when you read a book you read at 15 at the age of 25, I am confident that the experience I went through at 19 will lead me to feel completely different feelings the next time I go.