I am part of the infinitesimal fraction of low-income Ukrainians who secured $0.7 million in academic funding. My path has taken me from a small town in Western Ukraine to representing my country at a UWC boarding school on Vancouver Island, traveling to 11 countries in a single semester at sea, and now, pursuing an MPA in Environmental Science and Policy at Columbia University, an academic institution my 14-year-old self could only dream of. 

I secured the funding and the seat at the table with a singular goal: to help rebuild Ukraine into an economically stable, prosperous, and sustainable home. But the real path to this goal is paved with trade-offs that are rarely discussed and never flashy. For years, I searched for a book that told a relatable story to know I wasn’t alone in the "bandwidth tax" of this life, but I never found one, so I chose to write it.

My intention is to convey the side of the story that doesn't make it onto a resume: the reality of being a first-generation student and the first in my family to be educated abroad, navigating worlds my parents and siblings have never seen. 

It is an honest account of the weight of being an older sister and a daughter while my father serves in a military warzone thousands of miles away.

 This is the story of someone who could not relate to the traditional idea of success in her small town, yet succeeded in getting the opportunities to pursue her dreams. 

I have spent years of my life in places where my family has never been, learning that with every academic gain and professional milestone comes a profound, quiet loss. 

It is this loss - of time, of proximity, and of a shared reality - that I want to speak about.