.png){kind=small}
Two 12th grade students of “Nazarbayev Intellectual School of Physics and Mathematics in Semey”, Oralgazieva Yelzhana and Ilyasheva Kamilla spent their 2019-2020 academic year in the United States. They got such an opportunity thanks to the international program for CIS countries, Future Leaders Exchange (FLEX). Before this trip, they worked hard and successfully passed all stages of the selection competition for students. As a result, one of the students studied and lived with an American family in Iowa, and the other in a Connecticut family.
“One of the conditions of the FLEX program is living with an American family in order to get to know better the everyday life and the spoken language of Americans, to get to know the environment. I cannot say that participation in this program was easy for me, at first we passed a 15-minute test of English proficiency, in the second stage we wrote an essay. Then there was another essay, passing an interview, collecting letters of recommendation, and also participating in an online game so that the organizers could rate our spoken English and communication skills.
After all procedures, we received a reply from the organizers that Yelzhana and I were among 126 students from Kazakhstan” said Ilyasheva Kamilla. Our students studied in US secondary schools, namely Glastonbury High School, Housatonic Valley Regional High School, Roosevelt High School.
“In American schools, each student can choose a subject for study, as well as the level of knowledge in this subject, whether he wants to study it in depth or only for general development. For example, I chose to study the following disciplines: Mathematics, journalism, Chemistry, physical education, society, photography, orchestra, English, American politics, Physics, band, architecture and forestry technology. I was a member of the school orchestra and learned to play the double bass. And I was also a member of a theater group. I joined the Key Club volunteer movement, got a lot of experience, learned new skills, found a large number of friends and like-minded people”, said Yelzhana.
Of course, there were some difficulties in learning and life, but in spite of all this, they are grateful for the existence of this program, which makes it possible to live for free in another country, to study the language and to learn an everyday life of Americans deeper, the opportunity to reveal their potential, to compare the standard of living and education in two countries, to set goals for the future.
Press service of NIS in Semey