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:My response to [[w:Harvey Mudd College|Harvey Mudd College]]'s essay prompt: ''Tell us about yourself. We know which activities you do and what your academic record looks like, but what don't we know? What fun, cool or interesting things about you won't fit into the categories on the application? Feel welcome to be clever or funny, or write in a way that reflects your personality.''

Ever since I was a young child, I have had an affinity for and a fascination with trains of all kinds. While growing up in Russia, train travel was a regular part of my life. Often, I would travel with my grandmother or my parents into the [[w:Template:Cities and towns under jurisdiction of Saint Petersburg|suburban parks]] by taking the [[w:elektrichka|short-distance trains]], which also took people out to their country houses, "[[w:dacha|dacha]]s." While to most people, these trains, which were often filthy, would appear as nothing more than a means of transportation, I saw something special in the approaching machine. While waiting on the platform, I would peer into the direction from which the train would come, listening to the rails. As the nearly imperceptible speck in the horizon came closer, I would hold my breath, thrilled as the train slowed and passed me on its way to the end of the platform. Occasionally, the approaching train would blow its whistle, a shrill, piercing noise, which called of loneliness and adventure.

As I grew older, I became interested in related modes of transportation. I added trams and subways to my list of favorite means of travel, both of which are forms of rail transport. While traveling on trams in St. Petersburg, I liked to go to the front of the car so that I could watch the tram driver controlling it. For a long time, my dream job was to be a driver of some sort of rail transport.

After moving to the United States, my train travels decreased dramatically, but [[w:New York City Subway|New York City's subway system]] provided me with hours of contemplation and examination. The underground stations were often a world of their own, complete with musicians, shops, and beggars. Descending into the dimly-lit tunnels and underground passageways put me away from all of the hustle and noise of the city, leaving me with a dull, subdued din and the sounds of the subway trains. Even after my family moved out of the city, I continued to follow system developments closely. Someday, when I have the time and freedom to do so, I imagine myself traveling by subway to terminuses of various subway lines to city neighborhoods that I have never visited.