Who would think that one message in a group chat can change your views of the meaning of life? The message that my family received that evening change my views forever because that message told us that our close relatives are in danger; they hide in the shelters because of the war. The meaning of life always relates to my family. Making someone's life better, makes you feel valuable and meaningful. But when you make happy your loved ones, this feeling becomes much stronger. But now the war is going on in the country that was my home for the first 15 years of my life and where most of my relatives and friends live today. The question "Are they still alive?" became common in the last weeks. It's hard when you cannot control the situation but really want to help. After we receive first messages about war, I looked many ways to help my friends and close relatives. But what can I do? Simple nothing, and even more, I need to continue fight for my goals, continue plan for college and upcoming graduation. At this time, I started to see the real value of education. Receiving a degree is no longer mean to get a better life just for myself. God gave me an opportunity to move to the United States and have a peaceful days in this country, so now I need to give back. Living for others, helping others, and care for others together create a new meaning of my life. Like people in Ukraine, who are ready to give up their lives to protect country, I want to use my life to make someone life better. I know that there are tons of opportunities for me to achieve and became a right hand for someone.

It's hard for me to believe that I am not in Ukraine right now, living in the shelter, suffering each day because of this horrible war. Yes, without God's mercy, I would still live somewhere near Kharkiv right now, and I would not have any dreams about education. My life completely changed when I was 15 years old. My family received refugees status in the United States. Everything changes; the first time in my life, I left everything. Here we're, in the new country, confused and excited at the same time. School started; I felt so awkward sitting in the classroom and trying to understand what the teacher was talking about. Many times I wanted to give up and move back but my family encouraged me to continue a new life. I tried to be strong and overcome the language barrier, but didn’t see the goals of education. At night, when no one saw me, I cried a lot, missing my friends and grandparents. The months went by before I adapted to my new life; I started loving education, especially all of the opportunities available to me as a U.S. high school graduate. It's been almost three years of uneasy journey of American life. I felt proud of being able to set up new goals, pass English Proficiency Test, and be involved in school life. Life is going on but challenges are not over. A new and big challenge came into my life just a couple of days ago. War in Ukraine became a hard reality but I still need to continue to fulfill my dreams. Every challenge is hard at the beginning but when you overcome them, you become much stronger. I believe that one day, I will share my experience as a motivational speaker on a big stage.

"So far, so good. At least we are still alive." This is our family everyday conversation with my grandparents who live in Ukraine. A new war hit the world, and my family faced a new challenge - being separated from close relatives, grandparents, and friends. Since the first day of the war, my everyday routine started with quick messages to all my friends and close relatives about their situation and I feel much better when I see any response; my life will never be the same. I spent 15 years of my life in Ukraine. As my parents wanted us to have a better future, we moved to the United States. But everything was much harder that I imagined. Without knowing the language, culture, or having friends, I felt alone. I tried to be strong and overcome the language barrier, but I didn't see the value of education and my life in general. Months went by before I realized that teachers and other people want to help me. Meanwhile, I learned how many opportunities are available for me as a student who will graduate from US high school. I set up new goals and decided to become the first person in my family who will go to college. Life started to be meaningful again but… far away from us, war came to people who I love and miss each day. Looking at this war, I realized that I don't want to create a great future just for myself. There are a lot of people who try to survive instead of enjoying living, who need my help. I hope that in the future, I will be able to help people, especially those who left without parents, live a better life.

"So far, so good. At least we are still alive." This is our family everyday conversation with my grandparents who live in Ukraine. A new war hit the world, and my family faced a new challenge - being separated from close relatives, grandparents, and friends. Since the first day of the war, my everyday routine started with quick messages to all my friends and close relatives about their situation and I feel much better when I see any response; my life will never be the same. I spent 15 years of my life in Ukraine. As my parents wanted us to have a better future, we moved to the United States. But everything was much harder that I imagined. Without knowing the language, culture, or having friends, I felt alone. I tried to be strong and overcome the language barrier, but I didn't see the value of education and my life in general. Months went by before I realized that teachers and other people want to help me. Meanwhile, I learned how many opportunities are available for me as a student who will graduate from US high school. I set up new goals and decided to become the first person in my family who will go to college. Life started to be meaningful again but… far away from us, war came to people who I love and miss each day. Looking at this war, I realized that I don't want to create a great future just for myself. There are a lot of people who try to survive instead of enjoying living, who need my help. I hope that in the future, I will be able to help people, especially those who left without parents, live a better life.

"So far, so good. At least we are still alive." This is our family everyday conversation with my grandparents who live in Ukraine. A new war hit the world, and my family faced a new challenge - being separated from close relatives, grandparents, and friends. Since the first day of the war, my everyday routine started with quick messages to all my friends and close relatives about their situation and I feel much better when I see any response; my life will never be the same. I spent 15 years of my life in Ukraine. As my parents wanted us to have a better future, we moved to the United States. But everything was much harder that I imagined. Without knowing the language, culture, or having friends, I felt alone. I tried to be strong and overcome the language barrier, but I didn't see the value of education and my life in general. Months went by before I realized that teachers and other people want to help me. Meanwhile, I learned how many opportunities are available for me as a student who will graduate from US high school. I set up new goals and decided to become the first person in my family who will go to college. Life started to be meaningful again but… far away from us, war came to people who I love and miss each day. Looking at this war, I realized that I don't want to create a great future just for myself. There are a lot of people who try to survive instead of enjoying living, who need my help. Right now, educate myself is my service because I hope that in the future, I will be able to help people, especially those who left without parents, live a better life.

"So far, so good. At least we are still alive." This is our family everyday conversation with my grandparents who live in Ukraine. A new war hit the world, and my family faced a new challenge - being separated from close relatives, grandparents, and friends. Since the first day of the war, my everyday routine started with quick messages to all my friends and close relatives about their situation and I feel much better when I see any response; my life will never be the same. I spent 15 years of my life in Ukraine. As my parents wanted us to have a better future, we moved to the United States. But everything was much harder that I imagined. Without knowing the language, culture, or having friends, I felt alone. I tried to be strong and overcome the language barrier, but I didn't see the value of education and my life in general. Months went by before I realized that teachers and other people want to help me. Meanwhile, I learned how many opportunities are available for me as a student who will graduate from US high school. I set up new goals and decided to become the first person in my family who will go to college. Life started to be meaningful again but… far away from us, war came to people who I love and miss each day. Looking at this war, I realized that I don't want to create a great future just for myself. There are a lot of people who try to survive instead of enjoying living, who need my help. I hope that in the future, I will be able to help people, especially those who left without parents, live a better life.

"So far, so good. At least we are still alive." This is our family everyday conversation with my grandparents who live in Ukraine. A new war hit the world, and my family faced a new challenge - being separated from close relatives, grandparents, and friends. Since the first day of the war, my everyday routine started with quick messages to all my friends and close relatives about their situation and I feel much better when I see any response; my life will never be the same. I spent 15 years of my life in Ukraine. As my parents wanted us to have a better future, we moved to the United States. But everything was much harder that I imagined. Without knowing the language, culture, or having friends, I felt alone. I tried to be strong and overcome the language barrier, but I didn't see the value of education and my life in general. Months went by before I realized that teachers and other people want to help me. Meanwhile, I learned how many opportunities are available for me as a student who will graduate from US high school. I set up new goals and decided to become the first person in my family who will go to college. Life started to be meaningful again but… far away from us, war came to people who I love and miss each day. Looking at this war, I realized that I don't want to create a great future just for myself. There are a lot of people who try to survive instead of enjoying living, who need my help. I hope that in the future, I will be able to help people, especially those who left without parents, live a better life.

"So far, so good. At least we are still alive." This is our family everyday conversation with my grandparents who live in Ukraine. A new war hit the world, and my family faced a new challenge - being separated from close relatives, grandparents, and friends. Since the first day of the war, my everyday routine started with quick messages to all my friends and close relatives about their situation and I feel much better when I see any response; my life will never be the same. I spent 15 years of my life in Ukraine. As my parents wanted us to have a better future, we moved to the United States. But everything was much harder that I imagined. Without knowing the language, culture, or having friends, I felt alone. I tried to be strong and overcome the language barrier, but I didn't see the value of education and my life in general. Months went by before I realized that teachers and other people want to help me. Meanwhile, I learned how many opportunities are available for me as a student who will graduate from US high school. I set up new goals and decided to become the first person in my family who will go to college. Life started to be meaningful again but… far away from us, war came to people who I love and miss each day. Looking at this war, I realized that I don't want to create a great future just for myself. There are a lot of people who try to survive instead of enjoying living, who need my help. I hope that in the future, I will be able to help people, especially those who left without parents, live a better life.

It's hard for me to believe that I am not in Ukraine right now, living in the shelter, suffering each day because of this horrible war. Yes, without God's mercy, I would still live somewhere near Kharkiv right now, and I would not have any dreams about education. My life completely changed when I was 15 years old. My family received refugees status in the United States. At that time, living in Ukraine wasn't easy, sometimes we heard that there will be Russian attacks soon, but overall our life was pretty sustainable. As a teenager, I loved being with friends and thinking about life in bright colors. But everything changes; the first time in my life, I left my friends, grandparents, and other important people in my life. Here we are in the new country, confused and excited at the same time. Now it’s our new home. At first, everything was so interesting, so I didn't have time to think about the past. But autumn came and we went to school. I felt so awkward sitting in the classroom and trying to understand what the teacher was talking about. Many times I wanted to give up and move back but my family encouraged me to continue a new life. I tried to be strong and overcome the language barrier, but didn’t see the goals of education. At night, when no one saw me, I cried a lot, missing my friends and grandparents. But one evening, I suddenly opened the article about higher education in the US and saw how many opportunities are available for me as a student who will graduate from US high school. It opened my eyes and helped me realize what I can do. My dream to become a successful person is much closer to me. I started to get involved in school life, joined clubs, made new friends. I set up goals, passed the ELPA test, and started to get ready for college life. Being the first person in my family who will go to college made me more responsible. Meanwhile, I realized that living in this country gives me a lot of opportunities to help others. I began to see how many problems we have in our modern world, so I decided to challenge myself to help solve at least one. I saw that many children spent their lives in front of electronic devices without receiving any knowledge. I count it as an important problem in modern times, so I created my first book ¨7 DIY lessons to create unique hair accessories¨ that will guide girls on how to make hair accessories. I want other girls to learn this beneficial handiwork instead of playing games on their phones. Life is going on but challenges are not over. A new and big challenge came into my life just a couple of days ago. War in Ukraine became a hard reality. While I need to continue to fulfill my dreams, my close relatives, friends, and formed classmates suffer. Each morning I woke up with a question "Are they still alive?". I cannot live a normal life when people who I love, sit in the shelters and cry out their pain. But at the same time, receiving an education became more important to me. I know that a good career will give me more opportunities to help others. I want to help people in countries like Ukraine; since I move to the United States my goal is to help children who lost their parents. “Obstacles in the pathway of the weak become stepping stones in the pathway of the strong”. This quote motivated me through life. Every challenge is hard at the beginning but when you overcome them, you become much stronger. I believe that one day, I will share my experience as a motivational speaker on a big stage. 1. College education is a door to more opportunities to help others. My biggest inspiration is my dad, who always wanted to be financially independent and do what he is passionate about but lack of financial knowledge stops him from achieving his dreams. I look forward to a future where I can use my finance knowledge skills to help business owners and individuals like my dad achieve their career goals. I plan to pursue a finance degree for the next four years and afterward, work a few years in a successful and well-known company. After I have enough on-the-job training to feel confident in my abilities, I will open my own financial consulting company, which will help small businesses and individuals. I have a clear picture of where I will be in the next 10 years, and I know this degree is going to help me get there. Pursuing a finance degree will shape me as an individual who always can help others to solve or overcome their problems. Having enough knowledge in the business and finance industry will help not only in professional life but in personal life too. 2-3. Funny to say but my everyday activities fulfill my curiosity inside and outside of school. I love receiving education, love my school, and teachers; learning something new made me feel that my life isn't wasted. Although I love learning outside of school, I still have a lot of hobbies because I am a creative person. Since I was nine, I have been making hair accessories from ribbons and found this handiwork beneficial for my health. So, I decided to share it with others and wrote my first book "7 DIY Lessons to create unique hair accessories". Creating my own business was my passion since we move to the United States, so I try every opportunity to achieve my dreams. Also, I spend a lot of time helping my parents with everyday chores as well as practicing violin, piano, guitar skills. This isn't the end of the list. Many of my hobbies are just the way to help others. Creating party decorations, helping teachers in the bible school, babysitting my younger cousins are my hobbies and learning opportunities. Giving others what I have is my rule. Helping others is my joy. Seeing other people smile is a motivation and encouragement for my life. I am so grateful that my parents taught me how not to waste the opportunities and resources I have right now. I want to become a successful person and help my parents live better life.

I never blame my parents for raising me in a low-income family. Money can't buy happiness and I saw that my family always found a reason to laugh. But my parents always wanted to give us a better life, so they moved to the United States to start a new life. But being an immigrant brought us many new challenges, leaving us still being a low-income family. Despite the struggle of living in a new country, I saw this as an opportunity to grow. The environment where I was raised, always called me to become a better version of myself. Both of my parents didn't go to college and I saw many struggles and challenges which I don't want to repeat. Being raised in a low-income family gave me a lot of insights on living; life is not easy. Sometimes, you have a feeling that everything you are doing is just a waste of time. After moving to the United States, I was exhausted from getting used to life in this country. I tried to be strong and overcome the language barrier, but didn’t see my goals. At night, when no one saw me, I cried a lot, missing my friends and grandparents. My life was a ruin and I thought that I would never become better than my parents in a financial situation. Much later, being an American high schooler and getting ready to graduate from American school opened my eyes to the thighs that I have. I love studying and the opportunity to become the first person in my family who will go to college was a motivation to go toward. I put double effort into learning English and in two years passed the ELPA test. I wanted to give my effort and hard work to the community, so I joined Samsung Solve For Tomorrow Team and earned my first awards. I learned that raising in a low-income family gives you more opportunities to help others. Looking through the life of the people who were poor but later became well-known role models, I decided that I want to become one of them. Life is going on but challenges are not over and I am still fighting for my goals. I know that “Obstacles in the pathway of the weak become stepping stones in the pathway of the strong''. This quote motivated me through life. Every challenge is hard at the beginning but when you overcome them, you become much stronger. Also, I believe "Every family has a person who breaks the chain of poverty, maybe you're that person." My goal is to become that person; the first person in my family who will break the chain of poverty and will become the first millionaire in my family. But it requires a lot of hard work, but nothing can be done easily.

In our modern world, people are facing many problems that are unknown to past generations. But one thing became a problem as we're going out of pandemic, and this problem is electronic devices. During the pandemic, electronic devices replaced real-life communication, work environment, and active ways of living. Everything looked fine, parents and students were happy to study and work at home. But as the pandemic goes away, people are starting to see the impact of technologies on all people, especially on students. Being able to go to school after the long pandemic was a privilege for me, but it's different now. Now, during lunch or break time, more students just sit alone with AirPods in their ears, looking at the screen. During class, students use their phones more than learning from the class. Teachers started to be concerned about high school seniors reading and writing proficiency level, which is below average. I know that we are the future of our country. Having critical thinking, leadership, and communication skills are crucial for us, future leaders. But phones give people too much information, too much help, so their brain doesn't even need to work. And how can we solve this important for future generations problem? First, all students should have phone pockets in their classrooms, teachers should plan lessons with less use of electronic devices, but pen and paper instead. Second, electronic devices companies and programmers should create a program that would control the daily usage of the time and time limits. For example, some apps such as Instagram and TikTok should be locked for students during school hours. It's important problem to solve. But everything starts with us, so we need to show examples and encouragement to stop looking at the screen to no avail.

The song that inspires me the most is "Who Says" by Selena Gomes. While listening to this song for the first time, I didn't know who is Selena Gomes and was curious about her life. Much later, I read that she was from a poor divorced family, but she became a really popular celebrity. Now, the song became more meaningful for me. Each time I'm facing some big challenges, I listen to this song and it made me stronger and ready to go toward. Being born in a middle-class family, I always dreamed of becoming someone who will inspire others. As I grew up, I saw that many things never go the way you want. I thought that I will not be able to accomplish my dreams. But this song and especially the lines "Who says you're not perfect?/ Who says you're not worth it?" give me the power to continue to achieve my dreams. And at this time, as a senior, I feel that this song is especially important to me while I am applying to colleges. I know that no matter what decisions I will receive from my dream universities, I have enough to go towards. After listening to this song, I realize that even music can inspire and motivate you to go toward.

Being a creative person, I have a lot of hobbies but one that I like the most is making hair accessories from ribbons, foam, faux leather, and other materials. This is a unique handiwork, requires a lot of attention and hard work. I started making hair accessories when I was 9 years old. I love being able to make something with my hands that can be used by other people. Years went by, my skills have got better and I was able to sell my masterpieces. Having my own extra money was exciting for the 12-year-old. After moving to the United States, I decided that I can help others using my creative skills. So, I wrote and illustrated my book "7 DIY Lessons to create unique hair accessories". This book is based on my experience and interests, and I am so excited to share it with others. My hobby gave me a lot of benefits as well as enjoyable moments. I love creating new and interesting masterpieces and giving them as a present to girls. Seeing their smiles is the best reward and motivation to do more things that will make other people smile.

I was born and raised in a small village in Ukraine. Despite being known for its beautiful nature, fertile field, traditions, this county was getting worse each year with political conflicts and very high prices. But I lived there until I was 15 years old. As my parents wanted us to have a better future, we move to the United States. But life here is totally different than I imagined. At first, everything was interesting and I loved discovering new places and things. But summer went by and we had to go to school. I didn't speak English, so I felt so awkward sitting in the classroom and trying to understand what the teacher was talking about. When students tried to talk with me, I would smile, pretending that I understood. I tried to be strong and overcome the language barrier, but I didn't see the value of education and my life in general. I just felt so alone. But after several months I realize that teachers and other people want to help me. At the same time, I learned how many opportunities are available for me as a student who will graduate from US high school. I set up new goals and decided to become the first person in my family who will go to college. I put double effort into learning English and in two years passed the ELPA test. I wanted to give back through hard work to the community, so I joined the Samsung Solve For Tomorrow Team. I created my first book ¨7 DIY lessons to create unique hair accessories¨ that will guide girls on how to make hair accessories. My life still has so many challenges but "Obstacles in the pathway of the weak become stepping stones in the pathway of the strong”.

Since I learned all letters in the alphabet, reading became my passion and hobby for years. I read so many books, interesting, motivated, and full of knowledge. But my favorite book is BIble - the word of God. Everyone has their own opinion as to which book is the most inspiring book ever written, some people don't consider anyone book to be inspiring. Regardless of different religious or spiritual beliefs, the Bible is the motivation for many people. So for me. Bible is a unique book, the word of God. Reading it gives me strength, faith, and peace. There are so many quotes that are motivated to go toward, to never give up, to believe in a miracle. In the last couple of years, my life was full of unexpected events and challenges. I thought that my life is useless and I need no one. But only one thing stopped me from completely giving up - reading the Bible and praying each day. Many people in the Bible faced challenges and saw the hand of God in their lives. This inspires me to go toward, to serve others, and to make something valuable. Everything in the world leaves a mark. People, who serve God, leave their great marks for people. I want to become a person who will leave something important for the future generation. But I know that I will have so many obstacles on my way but Bible, my life guidebook, will help me go through the darkest times in my life.

Love the art and everything creative is what passed on me from my parents. Since first grade, I participated in many art competitions where I first felt the success in winning first places. But I always think that I am not perfect in my creativity because when I am looking at the painting of Leonid Afremov, specifically ¨Rain´s Rustle¨. This artwork was painted in 2010 by oil on canvas that represents an autumnal landscape in a rainy city. The amazing masterpiece that always inspires me to create. Growing up, I fell in love with rain and wet autumn leaves on the sidewalk. Walking on the road with an umbrella and listening to the sound of the leaves and rain is so calm and relaxing. Rain is tears of the sky. At moments when life seems to be so difficult, I raise my eyes to the sky to catch up so tears. I know that after each rain, there will be a sunny day. That is how this painting motivates me to go on the path to success. I know, it isn´t easy but rainy days are also a blessing for our lives.

During this year of high school, I decided to take a financial algebra class. Since the first lesson, I learned that 40% of American people live paycheck to paycheck. I think that learning about finance´s basics should be required in high schools to help students in their future life and work. But schools still give students to make choices to learn about managing finances. Because my future career is related to finances, I love reading books that give you more ideas on how to manage your finances. One thing that I learned from reading, is that we need to save first. As many people receive their paycheck, they first spend on needs and wants, and afterward, they put leftovers into savings. Often many people spend all their money and even go into debt before putting something into savings. I learned that you should put a specific amount into saving right after you receive your paycheck to ensure that you wouldn´t spend it on useless things. This is a rule that I want to use when I will have a job. Being able to manage your finances requires a lot of self-control. It´s a habit and I already started to learn about it with the small amount of money that I have. I believe that small pieces of learning lead to big success.

I always have a lot of different goals. Some of them are big and almost impossible to come true, some easy but require hard work. Since the school journey is almost complete, I seriously set up goals for the nearest future. My first and big goal is to finish high school with honor and become the first person who will go to college. Moreover, my dream school is MIT and I am waiting for their decision. I decided that I want to study Finance as my main major. After getting my bachelor's degree, I plan to work to become a professional finance analyst or manager. While working, I want to learn more about how to create my own business. I already have two big business ideas that I want to achieve - create my own fashion brand and open community where people will get help to manage their finances, create small businesses. My dream is to become the first millionaire in my family and break poverty in poor countries. My personal life goals are simple but really necessary for a successful and happy life. I want to develop good relationships with family members, friends, and the most important - with God. Only with His blessing, I will be able to have a successful life. Despite my parents keep saying that it´s so hard to create your own happy and lovely family, my goal is to find someone that would become my best person for life. Also, my goal is to travel around the world to get to know other cultures, traditions, people. Life sometimes can give us unexpected surprises but we still need to live and follow our dreams and goals. As long as I am alive, I will fight for my goals, even though big or small challenges.

Noticing small blessings in life is one of the ways to success. Sometimes we are waiting for big occasions to be happy but often small moments, and often we didn´t notice it, make us happier and motivated more than anything. The best small pleasures in my life are given by nature. Nature is truly the labor of freedom, love, and happiness. I have always been amazed by the beauty of nature, its colors, and its sounds. Living in the western United States, I have this amazing opportunity to explore the world around me where I can just be myself. Sometimes, it’s very useful to come out of a hectic day and enjoy life where peace and security reign. Laying down on the glass and listening to all sounds around, I start counting all blessings that I have. And even if the weather is sad and poor on the ground blessed rain, I looked at the window with a smile. I am grateful for these moments when the world around me makes me happy. Nature with its natural beauty makes all people happy and lovely. Nature inspires me to go toward, to achieve my goals, and never give up. Nature is our home and everything around us is made for us, so we can care about it with love in order to receive these pleasured moments.

Every person has their meaning of happiness. For some people, it´s a new car or a successful career, for some friends and family. Through life, your life values are changing and you begin to understand what makes you happy. Now, I know what makes me happy and motivates me each day and it´s my family. ¨We are not always together, but together we all.¨ Two years ago we lost our good friend and family member - my uncle. That hurtful time, we felt how we need each other. We can cry and laugh together and no one would understand these strong relationships between people inside a family. I love looking at family photos. Seeing my parents, a sister and a brother, cousins, grandparents and all close relatives make me feel happy. Life is changing and sometimes very fast but I know that in my life I have my family who motivates me, encourages, and makes me happy on an everyday basis. I am so grateful to have my family and want them to be proud of me. I want to share this happiness and love with others, so they can feel at least some happiness in their lives.

Since I was about 10 years old, I started investing. No, I didn't buy stocks, or anything related to business. I invest in myself. Drawing, painting, music - everything is worth it for my future. I invested a lot of my free time into handicrafts and reading. And now, after years, I begin to see the result. I found that my eyes are trained for colors, coordination, and fine motor skills. But what more important to me is it helps develop other skills and inspires me to think critically. These investments seem to be small and useless but in reality, it helps me a lot. But now, I am almost an adult, who will go to college. I see what I want to do in the future - become a businesswoman. I get my inspiration from famous people like Elon Musk and Robert Kiyosaki. Their books change my mindset and the way how money works. "Never be afraid to lose" became my favorite quote for life. Either business or big investments in the stock market, I should never give up. Right now, I am still far away from being a businesswoman. I am still a high schooler and education is my bid investment. And at every test or quiz, I am saying to myself: "Never be afraid to lose". We learn by making mistakes, and these mistakes make us stronger.

I was born in Ukraine and live there for my first 15 years until my parents were lucky enough to bring our family to America in 2018. But everything was harder than I thought. First time in my life, I left my friends, grandparents, and other important people in my life. I wanted to go back, to live the usual life. I cried at night and tried to be a happy person in public. Even my parents did not know that I was on the way to give up. But something stopped me and gave me the power to find a new meaning in life. My dad and mom started working. Without fluency in English and higher education, they don't earn a lot. Looking through their life, I understand why we moved here and why I need to be a good educated. Living in the United States gives me so many opportunities for education that my parents did not have. So I decided to become a supportive person for my parents. I started to study hard to achieve my goals. I came to the United States with zero English. I worked hard for two years and finally pass the English fluency test. I also found new friends and made a connection with teachers. I joined school clubs and tried to be useful for the community. The biggest two things that I achieve in these two years are becoming Semifinalist in Samsung Solve For Tomorrow Team and writing my own book. I joined Samsung Solve for Tomorrow just to have more communication with students. Despite it was during pandemic, we still got a lot of fun during the process. Also, I found out that our world and communities have a lot of problems that need to be solved. So, we tried to solve one using STEM and did not expect to win the first round. We became semifinalists and won $15,000 for our school. Although we did not make it to the next round, we learned a lot and became friends. Writing my own book also was an important time in my life. I had a hobby for 8 years and I wanted to share it with others. So, this is how my first book "7 DIY Lessons to Create Unique Hair Accessories" come to life. This handiwork has many benefits that are available for each girl. I really hope that this book will become a bestseller in the future. Life is going on. I have plans, dreams, goals. But now I learned that life has highs and lows. Right now I am getting ready to apply to my dream school - MIT but I knew that it is a very expensive school and my parents will not be able to afford it. But anyway, I hope that I will be able to make my parents happy, help my dad open his own business, and buy them a nice house. But it is in the future. Right now I live and motivate myself with this quote: "When you come across a stone in your path, the weak would say it's an obstacle, but the strong would call it a stepping stone." Let's be strong!

I was born outside of the United States, in beautiful country Ukraine. My childhood was usual and simple, but I like it. It was my country. But sometimes life is giving you big surprises that is not always fits your life. And something simular came to my life before I turned 15. I planned to finish 9 grade, planned by future career and looked for universities in the nearest cities. But life in Ukraine is not easy. Most of the students do not go to colleges because of money. Also you will need to pay the teachers so they can give you good grades. Otherwise you will not be able to pass tests. My parents knew it and they wanted to give me real education. So we decided to move to the United States to find a better and safer place for living. Despite all our moving planning, I did not really think about moving to another country. I had friends, cousins, school, culture, etc. I was thinking that this day will not come soon. But it came fast, really fast. I remembered that day when we received an email that has information about out flight. I sit on the couch and cried. I don't want to go! But I know that it's nessesary. So I tried to be strong when we said goodbye to our friends, grandparents, our old house. Life is changing very fast. So we moved. In the first weeks I was excited and interested in everything. But time came for me to go to school. I was very scared. I no nothing about the school, language, and culture. Everything around me confused me and makes me feel that I am alone. I cried for nights, asking why we moved here. Why am I alone know? I was ready to give up. And then came COVID-19. It might was the most difficult time for someone, but for me it became time when I started understand the life. During this time, I met nice teachers and people online. I joined the Samsung Solve For Tommorov Team. I never expected that we became semifinals and won $15,000. I also understood my mission here in the United States. I want to go to the top universities to study finance and become someone who will inspire others. I know where motivation come from. I want my parents be proud of me. Life is still giving me suprices. Sometimes good, sometimes bad. But I am ready to do everything to archive my goals! With your financial help, of course!

Reading books is my hobby. It inspires me to learn and discover new things. Since childhood, I have read so many different and useful books. When I decided to study finance in the future, I looked for advice books and found a very popular American businessman and author. He is one of the most well-known people in personal finance largely due to the success of his best-selling book “Rich Dad Poor Dad.” This book caught my attention. He wrote that workers won’t get rich toiling away at a conventional nine-to-five job. He talks about how investing and mindset can change workers’ life and your life also. He has so much advice that helps people manage money in the right way. But the best advice that I take from this book is “Put your money to work for you instead of working for money all your life.” Looking through my parents’ life, I see that they work really hard for life. I have never blamed and will not blame for the possible wrong money management in our family. They lived a very hard life, they give up their dreams and move to the United States for me and my siblings. And now I want to use this and other advice to help them live better lives. They deserve it. I understand that all advice is very important. Listen to the advice to have a successful life. Get more and more advice from the oldest people. They have lived their lives and have something to share.

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