This Story About The Dreams, Dreams That Become True
Several years ago people started asking me, “Where would you like to study?,” “Which country do you want to visit the most?” I had only one answer, “THE U.S.A.” When my friends were dreaming about seeing the Eiffel Tower in Paris or having fun in Rome, I was dreaming about how to climb the Statue of Liberty and see Mount Rushmore in South Dakota. But the most desirable thing that I wanted to do in the USA was to study there. So, I started to follow my dream.
I had applied to different programs but was refused many times. I did not give up. I was continuing to follow my dream. I was enrolled in a Ukrainian university with faith that one day I would get this opportunity.
Once I came from the university to home and just switched on my laptop and opened Facebook. I started scrolling and stumbled upon the announcement about the call for applications for Global UGRAD. I clicked the link, read all information and started to act. During that month I was writing the essays, collecting the recommendation letters and transcripts, and filling out the long application form. A month later, I got the call from the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine with congratulations on passing stage 1. Moving forward toward my dream I had a Skype interview and took the TOEFL. And in April I got the congratulations letter where it was written, “You have been selected as a FINALIST!”
At that moment I was the happiest person in the world. The dream that I have wished the most became true!
Pre-departure meetings, the visa process, and a few other things – and now I am here in the USA attending an American university for the spring semester! And now standing on the American soil, I want to thank all who believed, helped, and supported me. I know that there is nothing I can achieve alone. It was possible by all of you!
I want to encourage dreaming and following your dream anywhere. But the most important thing is to act. Do something in order to reach a dream.
And remember, “when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”- Paulo Coelho
Written by Vladyslav Shapoval, 2018-2019 Global UGRAD student from Ukraine at University of Houston-Victoria