Sometimes, when we think we have a clear plan for our lives, fate can always intervene and turn everything upside down in an instant. That's exactly what happened to me when the sudden outbreak of war in my homeland changed everything that seemed unchangeable. It was the beginning of a journey I never foresaw, but one that is leading me to where I am meant to be. Until February of 2022, I lived my normal life in Ukraine and studied at a scientific lyceum (same as high school). There I immersed myself in the world of STEM and even defended two research papers for the Junior Academy of Sciences. Going on a week-long trip abroad with my family, we never expected a full-scale war to start in Ukraine at the same time. All airports were closed one day and we could not even use our return tickets. The trip planned for a week turned out to be a turning point in the life of our whole family. Then the chaos began: urgent search for housing and work, paperwork, constant calls to loved ones and absolute confusion. It was an ordeal to stay in another country with no knowledge of the local language and no idea when you would be able to go back home. This period taught us invaluable lessons and drastically reshaped our values. Therefore, these years became for me a time of deep maturation, inner growth and gaining priceless experience. These challenges strengthened my belief in the importance of education. My dream is to make a significant contribution to science and leave a mark in medicine, changing the lives of millions of people. I intend to focus on studying innovative biotechnologies and integrating discoveries into practical medicine. After completing my bachelor's degree, my goal is medical school and becoming a highly skilled surgeon. My main role models in life are my parents. Through their example, they constantly prove that nothing is impossible in this world if you strive to achieve something. Back in the day, they built their careers as very young people, with a spark in their eyes, a thirst for new heights, and faith in their abilities. They went through many challenges but never gave up or lost hope. Yet, after such a long journey and achieving the fruits of their labor, they had to leave it all behind and start life from scratch in a new country with children when they are already over 45. It is incredibly difficult not to give up. I never stop admiring their strength of spirit and perseverance. Now, their determination, hard work, and desire to give my sister and me the best possible life have become an impeccable example of confidence and a source of inspiration for me. They have taught me important values: honesty, responsibility, and the ability to achieve my goals despite obstacles. I am incredibly proud of my parents and will do everything I can to make them proud of me. I do everything I can so my ambitions to become a physician-researcher to contribute to the advancement of science and treating people can become a reality.

I am now 17 years old and lately, my life has been full of unexpected unpredictable events. Until 2022, everything in my life was stable and quite planned out. I spent the first 9 years of my life in a school with a profound study of foreign languages. Every year I participated and won prizes in competitions at various stages (school, city, regional, all-Ukrainian) in various subjects (Ukrainian language and literature, English, biology, geography, chemistry, ecology). For 7.5 years I went to the School of Arts, where I had regular training in ballroom dancing, also had lessons in solfeggio and piano. Then I got interested in biological sciences. That is why I passed the entrance examinations and entered the 10 class of Chernihiv Regional Scientific Lyceum on biology&chemistry profile. Being deeply interested in biology and chemistry, with the help of the professor I defended my first research work in the field of ecology for the Junior Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (JAS) and won a prize at the all-Ukrainian level. Then, one day, my life was divided into "before" and "after." In February 2022, my family and I decided to celebrate my birthday in Cyprus. We packed for a week of carefree vacations and flew backpacking. Who knew that we would have to stay there much longer than planned because of the full-scale war in Ukraine. Thus, my migrant story began. Together with my younger sister, we studied at schools in Cyprus. At the same time I continued my studies in the Ukrainian lyceum. I had to adapt to a new country with a different culture and language. At that time I also started to learn Greek. It was a period of total uncertainty. Before that, I had never had to deal with so many "adult" problems. By the way, it was there that I had to go to work for the first time. I also began to create a second research project in botanical comparisons and observations. In February 2023 we arrived in Michigan. The culture shock, the 8-hour time difference with Ukraine, the language barrier, the different laws and rules of life - all this and much, much more came upon us when we came. That time I had to combine my senior year at a Ukrainian school with my senior year at an American school. Combo! For a very long time, I just couldn't adjust to the new time zone. I ended up graduating from two schools at the same time: Chernihiv Regional Scientific Lyceum and Forest Park High School. I got a gold medal for 11 years of diligent study and a diploma with honors (GPA of 4.0) from the Lyceum and a 3.9 from Forest Park High School. Because of the difficulty in finding employment in Michigan, our family moved again, this time to Florida. Telling it is many times easier than actually living it. I can say with certainty that in this year and a half, which for me is already an eternity, it is as if I have matured a lot more. Nevertheless, it's hard not to say that it's a priceless experience that only helps me move forward. For several years now, every year I've grown stronger and stronger in my desire to help people. Events in the world prove to us that nothing is more important in life than health. Without it, no achievement or material accomplishment means anything. That's why I want to keep learning so that I can do what I want to do, which is to help people.