I have an interview in Moscow on May 19th. I'm feeling optimistic, even though I'm in my final year and a correspondence student.

I've loved geography and travel since I was a kid, but unfortunately, I've never been anywhere, and now I've got a chance. Going to America is just incredible!!! If I spend this summer there, it will be the most unusual and, I think, the happiest months of my life. I've always liked America, especially New York with its atmosphere. Seeing all of this is a dream for me. For me and my friends, America is like another planet, and if I go there, it will be a "small step for mankind, but a giant leap for me"))

I wanted to go last year, but for some reason, I was told that correspondence students couldn't go. This year, my friend found out that they can, and we decided to participate. Two more people joined us, but one dropped out immediately, and the second one, after paying for almost everything (except the tickets and the interview itself), suddenly decided he couldn't make it, so we were back to just the two of us, like at the beginning.

We are leaving late, on July 1st, because of exams. We'll be back in mid-September. So, 2.5 months of life in the USA—it could have been more, it could have been less.

My friend already got his visa on March 12th; there was no limit to his joy and happiness. Now it's my turn. It would be terrible if I, the initiator of this trip, didn't get a visa. But for now, all I can do is wait and hope.

As a fifth-year student, my interview was rescheduled to May.