ELI student: Elvira Krestovska
Student from Ukraine
My Story in a Special Place
So many interesting stories happened
to me on a health track inside a park in my native city of Odessa. It’s a very
beautiful road that extends four miles near the shore of the Black Sea.
Everything for me circled around the sea in Odessa.
Probably you remember these words from the movie Knockin' on Heaven's Door,
“You’ve never seen the ocean? Don't you know what happens when you get to
heaven? In heaven, all they talk about is the ocean. How gorgeously beautiful
it is. And all the sunsets that they saw. How you could feel the sun lose its
strength. And how the cool water splashed forward and the only fire left was
the fire in their souls. And you? You can't say a thing, because you've never
been there. Up there, you'll be nothing but [an] outsider.”
The sea creates a special atmosphere
in every branch of life in Odessa. You can tell that the sea is the soul, a place
of power in my
homeland. Maybe this is why all the fun is near those waves, views, shores, this power of nature.
However, almost two years ago at the end of
April, my boyfriend wanted to ride a bike with
me on the health track. So I said “Yes, but
first, I want breakfast together.” Of course,
after our usual romantic weekend breakfast we went to bike. All of the prior week it
was cloudy and rainy all day long so it was logical that when the sun finally
showed us its rays, my boyfriend wanted to spend time with me. The weather was as excellent as my mood. I was full of breakfast and while
I was biking I saw next to me a man with whom I am in love. I didn’t expect
anything on this day, maybe only a manicure in the evening. And in
the end of the health track we stopped on our
special slope. We hugged and looked at the sea, but longer than usual. I wanted to bike to the cafe already but Pavel stopped me. He got on one knee and asked
me, “Will you
marry me?.” I was confused a lot and halted my breath. I couldn’t say anything, so I just looked at him
and at the ring and was silent. Finally he asked, “Will you say something?” I said “Yes”. We kissed, hugging, but
we didn’t know which finger we needed to put the ring on. We asked some
people below and they clapped for us and told us the right finger.
Once upon a
time before, Pavel made the proposal, after a club night we biked home at 4:00
a.m. down the health track. I wanted to sleep and I had no energy to bike, but
Pavel motivated me every mile. It was fun. He wanted to swim at sunset, but I
was so tired and I thought that he will forget about it at the end of the road.
He forgot and we returned a little bit to the first path by the sea. It was an
unforgettable feeling to swim in the sea at sunset with my love. The water was
extremely cold.
Then we sat
on the bench together and he rested his head on my legs. Suddenly we realized
that one lady was taking photos of us. It was hilarious. We said hello to this
lady. Her name is Olga, she is a journalist and she is an early bird. She wakes
up every single day at 5:00 a.m. no matter what and goes to take photos of the
sunset. We exchanged Facebook pages, said “Good morning!” and she continued her
early morning promenade. The next day we saw our photos on her Facebook page,
and Pavel reposted this and after that, everyone from his family, relatives and
friends knew that I exist and how I look. Accidents are not
accidental. Maybe it’s true.
I am grateful to the
energy of the universe for those moments of happiness in my life. In my opinion
not always everything interesting could happen with you because of your
activity. It’s also about the place that you choose. It is exactly the place
that attracts people.
_______________________________________________________________________________
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
https://www.csi.cuny.edu/campus-life/student-services/center-global-engagement/english-language-institute
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