“Using the experience to improve our lives” by Yuliia Dovhoteles

In general, to be honest, I did not expect that I would ever get to America, and even more so in this way. Even when I was near the US embassy in Poland, when they didn’t want to give me my passport because it wasn’t ready, I didn’t believe that such a thing was even possible. The first days in Los Angeles I had the impression that it seemed to me and was not real. During our stay, we had visits to Universal Studios and Disneyland, as well as trips around the city and to the sea, so at first the trip even felt like a vacation. The city itself is very quiet and without certain traffic, that is why I liked it, but I understand that I would not be able to stay in this place longer than we were due to the same reasons. Everyone does what he wants and when he wants, comparing this city with Washington, these are complete opposites. In fact, one of the wonderful experiences I got is living in a different rhythm of each city, so you can understand what you want in the future. In the next city – San Francisco, we stayed longer than in others, and it will probably be number 2 among my own “city rating”, because we had time to explore it the most and gained the same amount of scientific knowledge. We visited the Hiller Aviation Museum, Stanford University, Chinatown, Forests, California Academy of Sciences and visited the golden bridge many times. In each of these scientific places, I learned something new, starting with where and how certain models of airplanes were used, ending with the force of earthquakes in the city itself. Most of all, towards the end of the tour of this city, we visited forests and historical museums that had various nature themes. Of course, in any case, it was interesting to look around and get acquainted with something new, but when you have to wake up very early every day and return late in the evening, then the information for the day is not always well assimilated in the head, but it is also a new experience for all of us and a way out of comfort zone, which is also necessary. After San Francisco, we flew to Washington DC, which was very impressive at the beginning because this city is completely opposite to the first two, we visited. In fact, for an educational trip, Washington is an ideal city for this, because in my opinion it is a city that remembers its history and, based on it, improves its work for the future. I can’t say that I didn’t like this city, because the museums we visited during this time were really interesting to learn about the history of a new country, but I didn’t feel the excitement like in New York. I was mostly impressed by New York as a city, from which I expected the least delight. The movement of life, the contrast in the city and the excursions themselves were absolutely all interesting to me, as even the very perception of being in the city was completely different. The main thing about this trip is that the 360+ organization itself really knows how to plan trips and excursions for young people and does it so that in each city there is something that will be remembered for a long time, for example, the calm rhythm of life and entertainment in Los Angeles, nature and science in San Francisco, historic sites in Washington and the diverse sides of New York for the comfort of different nationalities. Personally, I sincerely thank all the sponsors and organizations that gave us such an opportunity as young students to visit America and learn about it better on our own experience in order to improve our native country in the future as well.