Ganna Zakharova university choice for graduate studies is Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. Her reasons for going there? She tells us. "Actually Old Dominion is a big university and it has a good school of international studies.
They offer lots of service programs and they offer a range of conferences and different model workshops and actually ODU is one of the universities in the U-S that can provide quality education at a good price."
Another deciding factor Anna says why she is studying in the United States is the opportunity to study under a Fulbright program. "I found one great exchange program, Fulbright program which is actually the American program so I decided why not take a chance and try studying in the U-S.
Other reason why I choose the United States is because of my major. Since my major is international studies I could hardly find a better place to get education in this field. It is not a secret that the United States place a key role in the international arena today, it is the leader of North Atlantic Alliance and this alliance provides security in Europe and securities is actually the field I want to focus on.
Anna says there are many international students at Old Dominion University so she's active with many of the campus activities and seminars. "I am from Ukraine. I'm from Crimean the beautiful peninsula in the south of Ukraine. I'm the kind of person who cannot sit at one place. I like dynamics. I like to socialize and take part in public activities. I joined the student organization for foreigners also the christian organization, Global Friendship since there are many international students at ODU we have many cultural events here," she says.
"Also, I am going to take part in purple lightning workshop. It is a workshop which takes place each year at ODU particularly in GPIS department, graduate program international studies department. This is a workshop between ODU students and military men. Its the workshop about African countries, so we will gather together and there will be a conference there, also a model workshop so it might be very interesting."
When asked what does America mean to her, Anna says, "America means to me diversity. It's a very huge diverse country and America means to me technology. Everything here is very advanced and you can find so many opportunities here which you won't find in Ukraine."
Anna has a bright future ahead of her. She says one rule of life for her is to keep moving and believe you can do what you want. "I like one very popular expression, but still it has very deep meaning. It's the Noah's Ark was build by an amateur, but the professionals built the Titanic.
That means for me that you don't have to be afraid of anything. The person is very capable. We can do everything and never be afraid to believe in dreams just move forward and reach them."
It will be another year or so before Anna graduates. Once she completes her degree, she wants to do the following, "the program takes two years so I hopefully will graduate in 2011. After I graduate I plan to do an internship and this will help a lot in the future to get a good job back in Ukraine."
