Something meaningful

My response to Stanford University's essay prompt: As you reflect on your life thus far, what has someone said, written or expressed in some fashion that is especially meaningful to you? Why?

As a child in Russia at age nine, my world was relatively carefree and without worries. However, all this changed when my family moved to the United States in November 1996. The move itself and the different world of Brooklyn, New York put me through an emotionally and physically stressful situation. It was at this crucial moment in my life that I needed an adult who would support me psychologically and enable me to become a part of this new world. My 4th grade teacher, Mrs. Petrino, had so much faith in me and interest in my progress that I did not give up and kept pushing hard to acclimate myself to my new life in America.

As we get older, we often tend to belittle the importance of our childhood teachers and our troubles at that time, finding them to be insignificant and much simpler than our currently "sophisticated" lives. This sense of false sophistication may lead us to forget the heroes of our younger days and regard our former problems as easy, uncomplicated matters. However, my sudden relocation and change in life was definitely no small challenge, and my teacher's role in my life was not insignificant either. Her efforts had a direct impact on my adaptation to the United States and her actions inspire me to this day to help others and not be afraid of new challenges.

When I first came into school in 1996, I had no friends and faced a world completely alien to me. Mrs. Petrino, with her welcoming smile and warm, energetic attitude, gave me a guiding light in this chaos. While at first she seemed too domineering and authoritative, it became evident that she had a clear interest in my succeeding, on both the academic and social levels. Even though my first test scores were very low, she congratulated me on doing well; after all, these were my first tests in an English-speaking world. From her unwavering confidence, I learned never to give up and always to keep working at achieving whatever goals I might set for myself. With her help, I understood that no goal or challenge is too daunting to be undertaken. Instead, every new goal becomes an open door to new experience, knowledge, and people I have never known before.

To this day, I continually learn new information, and after absorbing it, seek to share it with others in a manner that is straightforward, easy to understand, and precise. For me, there is not only joy from learning a new concept, but also joy that comes from explaining the concept to others and having them appreciate it as well. While the high school environment might be competitive, if I see a friend or classmate struggle with a concept, I try my best to help without considering the personal benefits that I might receive or the "harm" it might do by making the other student as smart as I am.

As a musician who plays the piano and the saxophone, performing in libraries, shopping malls, and retirement homes, I play from my heart, hoping to make people feel better after experiencing the emotions I bring forth. While playing at a retirement home, I could see from the listeners' faces how the music moved them and made them temporarily forget their worries and problems. When the opportunity to become a piano teacher was offered to me, I immediately took up the offer, eager to help others learn to play and use music to express their emotions; it was one more way in which I could help others. In band, as section leader, I help fellow saxophone players understand their music and play it correctly, at the same time presenting what I hope is a high level of musicianship and excellence, which we all strive to achieve.

As an extension of my wish to help others, I actively participate in the community, both locally and internationally. For example, when I came across the site of the Reeves-Reed Arboretum and saw that it needed updating and renovation, I contacted the director and took over control of the site. In a few months, I improved the design and content of the site, and the number of visitors to the site increased. Noticing that the gardens also needed a helping hand, I volunteered for the Horticulture department and even secured an internship for myself during the summer of 2001.

My ability to speak three languages enables me to help more people; as a localizer for two Macintosh programs, I am responsible for translating the interface and all program messages into Russian. This enables more people to use the programs and eliminates problems that could arise from having to use an English interface. The work I do is released under the GNU General Public License as a means of contributing to the developer community.

While many might dismiss the connection, I believe the help Mrs. Petrino gave to me in my first few months of life in the United States played an important role in shaping me as an individual. Her influence on me exists to this day and is exhibited in my volunteerism and willingness to take on hard goals. As I reflect on how meaningful her actions were and the impact they had on my life, I only wish that I could tell her what an important role she played in my development.

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