Educational Gap Statement

I have been through an educational gap since June 2009. Until now it comes to about twenty nine months. From that time I’ve taken a scholarship test and I’m still taking an English course. But this is mostly because of my dreams. Otherwise I may have joined one of the universities in my country much earlier.

I graduated from high school in June 2009. I could have joined one of the universities in my country, Kazakhstan. But a chance to study abroad was more attractive and I was encouraged by father and older brother.

From the age of 14 I wanted to study computers. Of course, the meaning of this word ‘computer’ is too broad, but that is just how I thought of it back then. Upon completing high school in June 2009, I prepared to acquire a scholarship, which we call ‘Bolashak’ in our language (Kazakh). The scholarship is given only to high performers, who then have all their expenses paid for by the government. The scholarship exams test one’s knowledge in English and Kazakh, in the constitution and history of Kazakhstan. The student should have enough knowledge in informatics, math and physics, as well as to be conversant with current events both in Kazakhstan and around the world.

I applied for the scholarship in June 2010 and took the exams in August of the same year. On the 30^th of September I received the news that I had won.

I came to the USA in January, 2011. But even then I haven’t really started studying the computer science, which is my main course of interest. I’ve been studying English at the Intensive English in Urbana-Campaign.

And so, although I finally got to school, I’m still in the educational gap, albeit of a different level from the one before I got the scholarship.