: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.