ELI student: Bulhakova, Safiie
Student from Ukraine
My Special Place
I
never thought that it would be so hard for me; at the time it seemed just like
parting with a piece of myself, but I was completely wrong.
My parents decided to move to
another city. It was unusual and sad. I loved the city in which we lived
before: a small, cozy and warm city near the Black Sea coast. I was born there,
and I found many wonderful friends. All my childhood memories remained there:
loss, happiness, grief. I really did not want to part with this city, filled
with the love and happiness of my childhood. My heart and thoughts were there,
but physically I had to move to a new place I knew nothing about. And so, on
one of the hottest and sunniest days of August, my family and I, with our
suitcases and also with thoughts about the future, entered our new home.
My first impression of this
house was an ordinary, unpromising simple feeling; I could not even imagine
that this place and my room would become so special to me. Initially, I was very sad and wanted to
return, I rarely had fun and was
discouraged, as if all my joy had stayed in that city. At that time I didn’t
know how many good and funny moments would happen in this house, in this room.
In this house there was a room
allocated especially for me and my sister. The room was spacious, as it could
easily fit ten or twelve pianos, but we only had one (which we were sometimes
extremely happy about, because we didn’t have to play at the same time ). Every
time when the homework was done, the room was cleaned, and we didn’t have
anything to do, my sister and I found a way to cheer ourselves up, trying to
not think about and miss the past. There were many ways of doing so and each
one is special in its own way, although I will tell you only one.
As you probably already
realized, my sister and I can play the piano. So, one of our favorite forms of
entertainment was to invent different compositions and organize concerts for
each other and in front of the whole family. In those moments we had so much fun that we
forgot about time and laughed while continuing to play and invent different
songs, playing along with the piano. And the most fun "performances"
were when my sister played the piano, and I, with a serious look, clasped my
hands together with one palm up and one palm down and kept my back straight as
if I was on a stage, trying to pretend to be an opera singer. Often our little
brother helped us, trying to press the keys with his little fingers, saying he
was playing “Something very beautiful”. Once I came up with a melody that could
wake up a person on the 10th floor, even though we lived on the first
floor. I even named this “composition”,
though it didn’t fit the melody type at all. I will never forget all our faces,
filled with impetuous laughter and eyes filled with tears, all the while trying
to grab some air for a new wave of unbridled fun. Laughter flowed all over the
apartment, fingers jumping on the keys, not trying to stop and continuing an
incredible rush of joy.
There were many moments like this and they were all different. I am
so grateful for everything and everyone for these moments, because they were
full of kindness,
cheer and very special to me, especially when we spent them with the family.
Remembering this and telling everyone about it always puts me in such a
wonderful mood.
Having lived in this house, in
this room for about 5 years, I realized how much had happened in this place.
The amount of pleasant memories, joy and laughter which occurred in this small
cozy corner made it so special for me. I will always go back there with a smile
on my face and happiness in my soul.
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The students' essays are entirely prepared by ELI students during the semester term they
spend studying at the English Language Institute (ELI) at the College of Staten
Island/CUNY.
They prepare this
academic work while having classes of grammar, reading and writing,
communications, and TOEFL preparation workshops, with the supervision of their
ELI teachers. Topics are chosen by ELI students and they reflect personal
points of view of the topics selected and facts and information researched by
them.
ELI students
dedicate time to make the best articles and carefully prepare their essays in
and outside class. All ELI students participate, from beginning to advanced
level. ELI wants to show their work considering their English level in order to
become an academic tool for future English-learning students.
Most of all, ELI wants
to show content related to topics students may have experienced while studying
English in New York, an important topic in their home country, a current issue,
or any other topic they decided to write about.
ELI is very proud of the
academic work that represents the outcomes of each student, who not only learns
English as a language but also is capable of expressing meaningful
content-based language.
Enjoy reading the
anthologies!
English Language
Institute
College of Staten
Island
