THE VALUE OF CHANCE

There were a few chances given to me that changed my life. I worked hard on my trajectory before they came along. But when they did it was just a small push given by a thoughtful person that tipped over the whole thing and made it huge.

• A governmental advisor who I knew very briefly presented my case to the head of the Republic and I received a grant to go to G20 in Paris as a part of the Russian Delegation.
• My mom's colleague approved a study grant for my first exchange semester in Norway that marked my moving abroad.
• A person I don't know donated a scholarship for my exchange semester in Canada where I discovered how big the world really is and how much I want to embrace it.
• The Committee of APECS trusted that my research was important to be presented on the main Arctic conference and gave me the grant to attend it.
• A few representatives of Shell met me at this conference and offered me to come for an internship at  Shell in the Hague. 
• One of them was persistent enough to fight with HR and immigration for nine months to get me in for two. But that really became a start of my life and career abroad.
• A person who's role let him hire external professionals gave me a chance to apply and develop my skills and grow my business and confidence.

In all these life-changing events I also played a part and worked sometimes harder than I could. But there was always a secret ingredient - a person who cared... Who cared to do good. My first and dear mentor told me that every day he tries to do something to change somebody's life for the better. 

For a long time, it has been my aspiration to be more like the people I respect and admire for the chance they've given me. It is magical to see how one "yes", one connection, one text to somebody can ripple in a wonderful way over the life of another person. 

In a search of "new business opportunities" I forgot what was really my passion. But I still remember what it's like to sit in a small room in a northern Russian town in the middle of nowhere and hope that somebody out there in a bigger far away world would say "yes" to my application. And now that I am on the other side of this equation, I want to help and to fulfil this aspiration every day.