My name is Stephanie Ryazanova, I am 19 years old, and I am a 1st generation American citizen. The entirety of my family is from Ukraine, and only my parents immigrated to the United States 23 years ago. Every year, since the moment I was born, my parents and I would spend every summer in Ukraine with my family. Since my first time there, I loved traveling to Ukraine and would say it to be my first home, at heart. English was my third language, my first being Ukrainian and my second being Russian. It hurts to see what happens today, to the country I love and hold so dearly. To the current date, I have many friends and family members who decided to stay put and protect those in need of help, and they are known as heroes today. At the beginning of this tragedy, my grandmothers and young cousins (all between the ages of 8-16) who I see as my sisters were able to come to the United States and stay here for safety, while my uncles and cousins who I see as my older brothers stayed put to help the cause. My aunts came to the States to bring my grandmothers and cousins to my family here, and one of them even went back to stay with my uncle and help our elderly neighbors. Throughout all of this, my family and I have worked together to donate and contribute all that we can to those in need in Ukraine. Ukrainian people are strong and brave, and I want to be able to represent that here in the United States as best that I can. I want to show the world that Ukrainian people are stronghearted and proud. I have always been proud of my heritage, but with recent events, I want my heritage to shine through and speak thousands of words. Living through this time, I have realized I want to do so much more with my career for my family and people around the world. With that said, I never wanted one singular major to identify who I am and what my career ought to be rest of my life, so I went to choose 3 different ones. My major in school currently is Business and Technology where we choose what courses for business we take and the same goes for technology. My concentrations are marketing and computer science. At the same time, I am also minoring in Quantitative Finance. I love marketing and business entrepreneurship, but I shine through with computer science and coding. Technology is a powerful tool and I look forward to shaping this world using it. I want to be able to create ideas, companies, and products that would be useful for the environment and the people living in it. More specifically, I want to be able to make this world more secure and safe for those who cannot get that extra hand they need. I am more focused on creating a special type of program focused on safety and security. It hurts to hear the devastating news of men, women, and children who are either hurt or lost during this time. I want to see less of that, so I want to work towards making our world a safer and more convenient time for everyone, especially my loved ones and fellow Ukrainians. Life is short, so every day, I strive to make a difference, even if all that I can do at the moment is to keep my family happy and focused on the next day. Slava Ukraini!

Hello, my name is Stephanie Ryazanova. I am a first-generation American of Ukrainian and Russian descent. Many have asked me, "Oh since you are the first in your family to be born in the United States, hasn't it made everything a lot easier since there are more opportunities here?" My answer to that question is, sometimes. I agree, the United States does purpose a greater amount of opportunities for almost everyone here, but at the same time, it is incredibly difficult. Although I was born here and have lived here all my life, my entire family still lives in Kyiv, Ukraine. Both of my parents are from Ukraine and had immigrated to the United States together, but my cousins, my grandparents, and all my other relatives still live there. They, unfortunately, are not able to immigrate to the United States because of visa issues and cost issues. Since that day I found out why they cannot come live with us, I made it my goal and dream to be able to solve all my family's problems and be able to help them. I promised that I would earn as much money as I could so that one day, I can not only help everyone I love but also repay them for raising me and teaching me everything I know today. To this day, I make sure to stay in touch via video call and message, and I also make sure to keep up with the original Ukrainian culture. I visit every year so that I can spend as much time with them as possible. I also am lucky enough to be able to fluently speak Russian to my family so that we can communicate easier. My parents taught me Russian as my first language to teach me how important it is to stay connected with your family. I am ever so grateful that they did that for me because I love my entire family. Whether they are two feet away from me, or thousands and thousands of miles away from me. Thank you.