SUCCESS STORIES
УСПЕХИ НА УЧАСТНИЦИТЕ В ПРОГРАМАТА „ОБРАЗОВАНИЕ В САЩ”

Ana-Maria Molnar, 10^th grade

Baba Tonka High School of Mathematics, Ruse, Bulgaria

George Washington University Pre-College Summer Program,

Washington, D.C., U.S.A.

Ana-Maria Molnar, third from right to left  

Writing the City

Scripting the Streets

And we became explorers,
Of both others and ourselves. 

Ana-Maria Molnar

My name is Ana-Maria Molnar and this summer I participated in the George Washington University Pre-College Program which took place between July 5th-17th, 2015 in Washington, DC. During the program’s twelve days we had the chance to explore some of the city's most significant landmarks and experience what life in the capital feels like.

The class I chose to enroll in  was called Writing the City and I cannot be happier with my choice. We had everyday field trips so we got to see quite a bit of Washington. Some of the places we visited included The National Mall, Georgetown, The American Indian Museum, the National Cathedral, Ben's Chilli Bowl, the famous fast food restaurant where president Barack Obama has eaten at, Capitol Hill, Union Station and many others. Every day we had a writing assignment related to the place we were visiting on that day. We were free to write in any genre we wanted to - essays, poems, made-up stories based on something that drew our attention, etc. Our field trips took place in the mornings - we would take off right after breakfast and most days we would come back for lunch and use our free time in the afternoon to write. Each of us would give their own interpretation of the day's events and would then upload it on the blog we created  - dcwritingthecity.blogspot.com

Some days after class we had different activities in the afternoons and evenings such as a College Success seriesin which students and employees at GWU would give us advice about college and answer any questions we had, Scavenger Hunt, Comedy Night, Talents Show, Monuments Tour and many others. We could choose whether we wanted to attend them or do something else. I attended most of them and they were all helpful in some way and a lot of fun.

I really enjoyed communicating with people from different cultures as there were students from countries such as Germany, Pakistan, China, Puerto Rico, Russia and of course the USA.  I definitely learned a lot about how the US education system works, both from the GWU employees and the American friends I made there.

This was a very enriching experience for me in many aspects - I travelled across half the globe all by myself (I was quite scared at first, I should admit), I saw a country so totally different from mine that I could not believe it at first (I had expected it, though) and I got to see what college and living with complete strangers feels like. At first I could not decide whether I liked it or not but by the end of the program I realised I did not want to leave at all and the friends I had made there said they would definitely visit Bulgaria in the near future. On our last day we were all hugging and getting emotional because we had grown so close to each other and had got to know each other very well even for such a short period of time. I am never going to forget those two weeks filled with passionate learning, genuine laughter and amazing memories!

A Goodbye in Paradise

Green life all around us
as we walk deeper into the garden.
Listening to the bees buzz,
trees surround us like a curtain.

Walking barefoot on the midmorning grass
big smiles on our faces,
cheerfulness inside our souls
but sadness in our gazes.

It is almost time to say goodbyes
for each of us has to go their own way.
This garden reminds me of paradise
and I wish we could forever stay.

Ana-Maria Molnar