During the International Education Week that is celebrated annually in
November the American Information Center announced an essay competition
"Why Do I Want To Study In the U.S.?" High school and university
students took part in the competition along with their adult rivals.

English Language Fellow Danai Long and Fulbright Fellows Elizabeth Hoody
and Jacob Shier evaluated the creative writing skills of the
participants. Mr. Fred Ford became the winner of this competition. His
essay is published here.

В рамках Недели Международного Образования, которая отмечается ежегодно
в третью неделю ноября, Американский Информационный Центр проводил
конкурс эссе на английском языке на тему "Почему я хочу учиться в США".
В конкурсе приняли участие школьники, студенты и специалисты с высшим
образованием.

Творчество наших участников оценивали Данай Лонг (English Language
Fellow, преподаватель -методист), Элизабет Худи (Fulbright Fellow) и
Джекоб Шир (Fulbright Fellow).

Победителем конкурса стал Фред Форд, чье эссе можно увидеть здесь. 

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**WHY DO I WANT TO STUDY IN THE USA?\
**

> **by Fred Ford**

It is commonly known that thousands of people from all over the world
want\
to study in the USA. It is also true that America is a country where\
everybody can realize all of his or her dreams in all respects.\
\
There are many reasons that push prospective international students to
seek\
any opportunity of entering the US Universities. One of them is that\
American Universities have the best educational qualitative programs in
the\
world. Every accredited US University has many full professors and
other\
experienced teaching professionals on its staff. US educational system\
gives students super modern equipment for conducting different
laboratory\
and scientific work, various resources for supporting students in need
and\
maintaining comfortable students\' living during their period of
studying,\
and so on. In addition, there are many special programs, including
social\
ones, for the disabled students. In other words, everyone, who would
like\
to study in the USA, can find himself or herself in a very friendly\
atmosphere when gaining degrees in US Universities.\
\
To be perfectly honest, I would like to study in the US University
because\
I feel that I have a big unrealized scientific potential, which could
be\
directed into the right stream. I graduated from the Ural Polytechnic\
University many years ago. However, nowadays, living in the era of\
scientific progress, I understand that I need to obtain much new
knowledge\
and experience for polishing up my Engineering skills, perfecting my\
English, and improving myself further step by step, day by day. I think\
that America has many educational opportunities for helping realizing
my\
aim. Moreover, I know that American Universities have a lot of special\
Financial Aid programs, such as Scholarships, Fellowships,
Assistantships,\
and many other ones. I have three kids and, so, if I could gain some\
Financial Aid, even though during my second year\'s studying in the\
University, I would be happy to a large degree. Of course, I understand\
that, in order to realize my dreams, I should take and pass two very\
difficult examinations: the GRE and TOEFL tests. It is clear: the
better\
the University, the higher requirements for students\' entering the\
University. Therefore, I must prepare a lot. Further to it, I must
improve\
my English as much as I can because studying in America implies that
all\
the educational process will be conducted in English. And, for gaining
the\
Master\'s Degree, I should have much knowledge of English. In addition,
to\
receive Assistantships, I will have to teach Undergraduate students and\
help Professors in their work.\
\
I looked through many US Universities\' sites and was surprised at the\
enormous choice among educational programs concerning Engineering. Also,
I\
like the opportunity to pass the Optional Practical Training after\
graduating from the US University. It is great to have a chance to use
your\
theoretical knowledge at work and put it into practice as much as you
can.\
\
It is true that America is a country where Freedom and Democracy are
the\
corner stones of living. Consequently, everybody has the equal rights
to\
study. There is no giving preference to those who possess the certain\
religion, race, citizenship, etc. So, when studying in America, I will
feel\
completely free and psychologically relaxed in all respects.\
\
It is generally known that there were many contradictory things between
the\
USA and Russia during the Cold War in the previous century. But
nowadays,\
our countries have a lot of common aims and all the boundaries have
been\
\"broken and opened\". As a result, I got a wonderful chance to study
abroad.\
To be honest, I would like to meet a lot of new friends from all the\
corners of the world. How wonderful to make the acquaintance of many\
interesting people living in different countries!\
\
To sum up, I am glad that, in present, I can have a great opportunity
to\
explore America from inside from various angles of view and obtain an\
invaluable life and study experience when studying in the US
University. \
\
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