Memorable Moments

My Past Shaped My Identity

Sona Qaderi

Afghanistan, Level 3

My identity and my personality are the combination of several aspects from my past, my present and my future. The journey of my life in the past, the experiences that I have from the past made the person who I am right now and the way that I am living now. All the efforts and endeavors that I had are the reasons to fulfill my aims for a better future. My whole life and the person who I am right now depend on the following reasons: The challenges and troubles that I endured in the past, the people who had effective roles in my life and the society that I lived in.

There are many challenges in every human being’s life and these challenges change the life of people in different ways and for me those challenges and problems were like lessons. I had many troubles in my life such as: economical problems, social problems, environmental problems, educational problems and much more. When I was a child, my father was working in a far place from our house in order to make some money and provide for us food, clothes, a house for living and our education expenses. He was coming every two months for a week to visit us. I was living with my mother and my three sisters in a village, and we were not able to go to some institutes beside our school classes because our environment was not safe for a girl. We had a traditional society and most of the people were harassing the girls for different reasons. But the good thing is that I have learned lots of good lessons from them and they made me stronger and without them I think my life somehow would become meaningless because may now I would have nothing to compare with the good times.

Family and the people who live around us have a comprehensive role and direct influence on our attitude. My mother was a teacher, and my father was a soldier, they are the most influential people in my life, and they had the basic and fundamental role in my life. I always tried to have positive, wise and hard-working people around myself and that is why now I am optimistic and responsible person. At the end I became a strong, loyal and regular person as my father, and a creative, dedicated, passionate and caring person as my mother.

As a woman living and growing up in a third world country, in a country that has been in war for many decades and has no rights for women was the most difficult experience in my life. Living in Afghanistan is one of the big reasons of who I am. As a citizen living in my country was like an unknown life, any time that we went out our house we were not sure that we were able to comeback or not, many people lost their lives on the way of school and on the way of their job in bomb blasts. We had bomb blasts in our schools, in university, in the hospital, inside the mosques, in shopping malls, on the streets and almost in everywhere. I lived my whole childhood and my teenage period in fear of war, losing my life and losing my loved ones. That society taught me many things and had both bad and good effects on my life. It caused me to stay back and drop behind in many aspects in my life. I couldn’t continue my education in my country and go to university.

At the end anything that I have in my life material, spiritual, good and bad, I am debtor to my past, the people who had important roles in my life and where that I grow up. I am happy that they shaped me in a good way and now I know the value of everything that I have in my life and didn’t have in the past. There is a famous quote that says” Life will give you whatever experience is most helpful for the evolution of your consciousness” Eckhart Tolle. I hope that one day I will be the person that I always wish to be.

Memorable Moments

War in Ukraine

Yuliia Nagirnyak

Ukraine, Level 1

I’ve had many bad days in my life, but one of the worst days was when Russia attacked Ukraine. I learned about that in the evening, when I came home from college. I wanted to study, but I opened Facebook and was shocked. No one was ready for that. I couldn’t sleep, so I felt very bad in the morning. First, Russia blew up airports and military objects, eve in small cities. After that, they blew up people’s houses, hospitals, and children’s kindergartens. They shot volunteers, medical workers, and peaceful people. A lot of cities were destroyed. People can’t leave their destroyed houses, because Russia soldiers shout them on the way to safe places. Many children don’t have parents, because their parents were killed by Russia soldiers. Also, many people died due to lack of medical care. I have a mother in Ukraine, and I’m worrying about her. My mother took people to my grandparents’ house. They come to her from Kharkiw, and they travelled for about four days, because their road was dangerous. I read Ukrainian news in the morning, and there were cases when Russia tanks crushed car with people and children inside. Finally, Putin incites Belarus to fight us. It’s awful, and I don’t have any words.

In my opinion, and opinion all Ukrainian people, Putin is a terrible person. We hope as soon as possible, the war is over.

Memorable Day in My Life

Walaa Ahmed

Egypt, Level 2

A memorable day was the day I graduated from high school in June, 2005. It was the day the test result would appear. In the morning, it was 7:00 a.m. I was very upset, worried and more nervous because my whole life and my career future will depend on the score I will get at high school. I needed to have a 93% to go to the pharmacy college which I always dreamed of and wished to join. I could not sleep all the night because of my anxiety. In the morning, I got ready and went for a walk in our garden to relax. While I was walking, I saw my cousin come faster to tell me that my result appeared. At that moment, my heartbeats became faster. He told me that I got 89.6% in high school. For a while, I could not believe that. I thought he was kidding, but he said the result had just appeared. I ran to my home and called my friends to make sure that the result is correct, as the mother of one of my friends was a principal at the school that I am. Also, my uncle called his friend who worked at the same school and asked him about my result who told him it was true. It was impossible. I was shocked and felt disappointed. I spent all the year studying only and took many lessons in the most difficult subjects. I worked very hard to achieve my goal so that I could join the College of Pharmacy. I felt that I could not make my family happy, especially because they encouraged me and supported me all over the year. In fact, I cannot forget that morning. It was full of worried and sad feelings.

It was afternoon, and I could not stop crying. It was hard for me to know that I did not get the result I wanted. And I could not fulfill my ambition. My dreams were gone for nothing. My uncle told me that we can submit a grievance and review the results of the exams, but I refused because that requires a lot of time, about a year. As I could not wait that long to not waste one year. Through that afternoon, my family tried to calm me down. During that hard situation my family and my uncle especially supported me a lot psychologically. And they always repeated to me that I did everything I could and did a good job, and I should not be sad because I did not neglect my studies. And my uncle told me that I am proud of you. To conclude, being with my family and their presence beside me helped me a lot to calm down and felt better at the end of that afternoon.

Finally, in the evening, I was better and my relatives came to congratulate me and gave me some beautiful presents. They were happy with my results. Also, my friends came to my home and spent the night speaking with me. In fact, my result was not that bad. I was sad because I wanted a specific college and that college required a higher grade than what I got. However, by the end of the day, I was satisfied and accepted my grade. And that was because I did everything I could. To conclude, the evening was not bad and I felt more comfortable than I was at the beginning of the day. In the end, my result day was a difficult day I cannot forget at all throughout my life.

The Best Day I Have Ever Had

Fjorda Hysenaj

Albania, Level 1

The most beautiful day for me was my birthday in May 2020. When my husband surprises me, he takes me to a place I really wanted to visit. When my husband gave me a surprise, to visit Niagara Falls. It was a genuinely delightful surprise for me because I really wanted to visit Niagara. When I went there it was really a miracle, but the most beautiful part was when we went boating. The boat ride was nice, because you could see that you were in the middle of the waterfalls and between them you could see a colorful rainbow. The Canadian part was even more beautiful than the American part, because the Canadian part has lots of nice bars and restaurants to visit. To visit one of the wonders of the world for a birthday is a day not to be forgotten.

The Day I Became a U.S. Citizen Lesya Bulchak

Ukraine, Level 2

The day I became a U.S. citizen was very important for me. My whole family already has citizenship. First, I applied my application one year ago. After, I paid $715 and sent it. Then I started to learn one hundred questions, and I looked at my application because there was all my information about my job, family, and my whole life.

It took me about one year to do it because of Covid-19. For the last two years, they started to do things very lazy. I was excited and worried, so sometimes at night I could not sleep. I had insomnia, so I taught myself questions at night. Also, when I was in my car; I listened a lot of times my one hundred questions.

Finally, the day arrived. I was called for fingerprints and citizenship. First, I was called for fingerprints. I did my fingerprints, citizenship, and in the same day, they took my photo for future documents. One month later, I was called for Oath of Allegiance to America. I was very-very nervous, but at the same time; I was proud and so very happy for myself. It was difficult for me, but I did it.

An Unforgettable Experience

Solomiia Boiechko

Ukraine, Level 2

I went through an unforgettable experience when Hurricane Grace hit Mexico. It happened on the 5th day of our vacation in Tulum. It started getting windy around 6pm, and all visitors were told to stay in the room. The hotel staff was very organized. They brought dinner and breakfast to each room. They told everyone to close the metal door on the balcony. We were watching the news, and it said that there was a category four hurricane brewing on the ocean and that people were evacuated from many Tulum resorts. The wind increased, and it was starting to make squealing and screeching noise. It sounded like a train one minute and a wolf howling the next second. It was terrifying. It went on all night. The next day, when the storm passed, there was a mess outside. Tiles lay on the ground, and tree branches and coconuts were everywhere. The wind tore doors and roofs in the restaurants, and it uprooted dry palm trees and dragged them on the ground for several meters. Fortunately, all people were safe.

An Unidentified Flying Object

Virginie Gilles

France, Level 2

I experienced something so amazing that I will never forget it. I would like to tell you about it. It was during my summer vacation when I was 13. We were four: Suzy and Ginette, they are sisters, and they were like grannies for me. There was also Manon, 12 years old; she was like a cousin to me too. We spent a few days in Suzy’s house together. At first, it was a usual evening; we were on the couch

watching TV. The window was open; the neighborhood was quiet, but suddenly, Suzy yelled and showed us the dark sky outside. Then we decided to go out in the yard to get a better look at what Suzy showed. It was a UFO! It was so huge, like a soccer field. We could see three lights coming on and off alternately. This thing moved very slowly in the sky above houses of the next neighborhood. Suzy and Ginette were so excited to see this UFO! They moved their arms to say “Hello” to the people inside the aircraft. I observed silently, and I wasn’t happy about all the noise they made. The sisters decided to call their brother. During this time, I stayed alone by the window observing this thing in the sky. Manon was inside with the grannies. So, I was the only witness of an incredible event: this aircraft stopped in the air, and it directed a beam of light above a house for several seconds. After that, the aircraft stopped the beam of light and continued to advance slowly, but suddenly accelerated to disappear. Finally, I was so terrified I decided to call my mother to go home, but she refused because it was finished, and I was safe with Susy and Ginette. This event was so crazy for me. I didn’t have any answers or news after that, so I don’t know what we saw that evening. I am sure about one thing: it was an unforgettable experience!

An Unforgettable Experience, My Daughter’s First Flight Roxana Negrut

First Place Prizewinner

Romania, Level 2

My husband and I made plans about a trip in the United States of America. The plans worked perfectly. We bought tickets, we decided what we supposed to take, and what we were supposed to visit there. Everything seems perfect, except one thing. My daughter who just turned 4, and never flown before. She is an active child, and she never stays still. She likes to run, dance, and sometimes when she is tired, she also likes to scream. Suddenly all my plans had to be adjusted. The flight will be very long, so in order to calm her down, I must be prepared. I read a lot about others’ experiences. I packed a lot of toys and books. At that time, it seemed that I have control over the situation. Oh, I was so wrong! Let me tell you what happened. First, she was full of excitement and she didn’t sleep on departure day. Second, we didn’t have a direct flight, so we stayed in Frankfurt and waited for the next flight. The flight was delayed. She started to become impatient, so I used her toys and books to calm her down. The situation didn’t seem so bad. We had it under control. At last, we embarked on airplane that will take us to the U.S.A. Then, the gates of hell opened. She was already tired, we were tired too. She lost her interest about the toys and books. She started to cry and scream. I succeeded after an hour to stop her, or she was just tired. After that, she started to sing loudly and laugh too. And in the end, she disappeared under other passenger’s seats after running away through the airplane’s aisle. The situation was calm when we landed. She fell asleep like an angel, like nothing happened. We had so much emotion through this trip. We were amused, concerned, desperate, tired, amused again, and in the end, relieved. Now we still remember our experience. Now we can laugh about it and make fun of it. I wasn’t fun then. It wasn’t fun at all.

Challenges

Aleppo

Elona Culiq Second Place Prizewinner

Albania, Level 3

our coast is covered with the bodies of dead children with cities bombed in the belly we swim in the waters filled with corpses removing with our hands the dreams that had fallen out of their eyes

our silence has taken root and is building walls of blindness we do not see it doesn’t hurt us this is not our war these dead are not ours we swim fearlessly in the waters that wave extinguished human souls nothing is certain fear is bigger than the sky above and consolation is a yellow flower that blooms in the late mornings

the end exists we do not see it it sees us it limits us I wonder if there is time to repent

? we remain indifferent as the dead gather on the shore their grave is our home their death is our death

The Story of My Move

Inna Blyzniuk

Ukraine, Level 1

I will tell you my story about where I’m from, and where I’m going. I was born in Ukraine, in a small village. I went to school, had a happy childhood with its joys and sorrows. There I graduated from school and medical college. In 2019, my family decided to move to the United States. Nobody knew what awaited us and whether it was worth changing the place of residence, but by some miracle, because of what happened to our documents, you can’t call otherwise. In a short time, we moved to the USA. So, a new life began, everything had to start from scratch. First, it is another language and another culture. Second, it is a different climate and time zone. In the first days I got a lot of stress, but at the same time it was interesting and a little scary. But, you get used to everything, and now time has passed and everything is fine. When I lived here for two and half years I understand that it was the right decision, because during this time I learned a lot that will help me go through different experiences in my life. I have great hope and faith that together we will defeat evil with good, because, our future depends on the present. In conclusion, we will try to fill our present with useful things, so that our future and the future of our world will be bright and peaceful.

My Son’s Birthday

Immaculee Mukanyandwi

Rwanda, Level 1

The day I gave birth to my son is a very important day to me. His name is Ron. I gave birth on the 18th of June in 2020 at Cleveland Clinic Hospital. He is one year and 9 months old, almost 2 years. The first day I knew that I was pregnant, I was so excited! First, I took a shower. Next, I put on my clothes then I went to hospital. I developed high blood sugar. It was not easy, but God helped me. I thank God so much because I gave birth to healthy baby. When I think about it

today, I feel very happy, and I consider this day to be a very special and important to me.

My Story

Kiljung-Jang

South Korea, Level 1

I came to America last year because my wife wanted to live with her sister who lived in America. One day my wife got a call from her sister. She wanted to live together with her family. I thought, how will I live my life in America? At that time, we bought a new apartment and life was good. I decided, even though I was too old to study in America, I was destined to go to America if I got a visa. I think my life is variety. Even when I got married, I was living in the southernmost part of Korea. And 4 years later, I went to the Philippines to work for 4 years, I had many new experiences there. Now I am here in America with my wife. I go to college to study English. It’s too hard learns English. But it’s a very precious time in my life. I’m a bit used to America life now. I bought a new car and a house. I’m really excited and looking forward to my America life in my late 40th year.

My Story

Tetiana Lupashtian

Ukraine, Level 1

I was born in Ukraine, and when I was 35 I moved to the United States. First, In Ukraine I lived in a small town. There I studied, went to work and met my future husband. Second, I got married and had two wonderful children. Then my husband went to France to work, and he was gone for three months. It was very difficult without him and we missed him very much. Later, we moved to the United States. We lived with my parents in Philadelphia for six months. I went to work on cleaning as my husband went to study to be a truck driver. After that, we decided to move to Ohio. I went to study in the college. I really like learning although it’s hard. My husband went to work on the truck. Finally, I would like to see my future successful. I want to have an interesting and paid job to my liking. Also, I want to buy a big nice house so I can live happily there with my family. I would also like to be able to travel a lot. This is my past and my plans for the future to find my own way in life to live it for a reason.

My Family Story

Iryna Shtynda

Ukraine, Level 1

I had a very interesting life in my country. But when our family won the Green card we were very happy and decided to go to America.

I’m from Ukraine. First, there passed my happy childhood, school years and youth. There I met my love. On June 4, 2011, we were married. Later our daughter Olga was born. Second, in 2013 we won the Green Card. We were very happy, but the unknown awaited us. Then, we arrived in America in 2013. The first day we had a tour of New York. The next day we went to Erie, Pennsylvania. We lived there for 5 years. In 2015 our son Matviy was born. After, I went to work in daycare in 2017 because I have loved children since childhood. Next, in 2018 we moved again, but to our own house in Strongsville, Ohio. Our family was very happy. Our daughter went to school. Our son went to daycare, and I got a job in a daycare of the Ukrainian Academy. Finally, this year I went to study English at Cuyahoga Community College. My goal is to learn English. I dream of raising happy and intelligent children. I want to find a job that I like. I still dream of traveling a lot.

For every stage in our lives we rejoice and give thanks. We have only positive emotions and many friends.

A Terrible and Wonderful Year

Altina Ago

Albania, Level 1

Many things happened in 2009 and 2010 that made me stronger. August was a special month for me. I got married on August 09, 2009 with the man of my life. It was a happy day and the most important day of my life, but my mother was not there. She was sick, so she did not see me in my white dress. I do not have any photos with her on the most important day of my life. After the wedding, my husband and I went on vacation. I was very happy with my husband, and the vacation finished so fast. We came back to our city Berat, and we started to live together. In the fall season, I learned I was pregnant. This news made all my family happy. Our life and our family’s life was calm and happy. After that, my father started to feel bad, and after three