In the history of humanity there were a lot of outstanding people, inevitable events and phenomena which considerably affected a further development of a mankind. Of course, some of them produced unforeseen results, but the other brought about important changes.
   I can’t distinguish between people and things, judging different contributions and a level of their significance. It’s hard to evaluate objectively beneficial effects, because it happened then. Present is very different from what was some years or even centuries ago.
   During the whole year I’ve been trying to grasp the importance of what is taking place now. At first The Euromaidan, and then an undeclared war… I take the view that all these events changed our conscience and outlook, especially youth’s one.  But does a nation have a say after all? – Sure. In winter a lot of people stood up for liberty and died in order to give us a chance to restart a mechanism of authority. Unfortunately, people got a counter-productive result.
   Nowadays we have an expected but not desirable outcome.
   While thousands of men were mobilized to defend civil rights and integrity of the country, a government continues to allocate money and business. They really don’t care that wife and a small child meet not a husband and father but a coffin with a lifeless body.
   While charities and volunteers fit out the military, ministers ensure that soldiers are provided with all necessary and a funding is satisfactory.
   It is possible to continue a list till the infinity. I reckon that bit by bit our country will drown in hypocrisy, greed and lie.
   When will the government begin to take Ukrainians’ needs seriously? How long will they carry on to get rich on deaths of citizens?
   On behalf of all young people, I beg you to hear the voice of demos! Don’t you afraid of dreams where grief-stricken mothers blame you for their sons’ deaths? Or when tearful children are asking you why you took away their father?

   Serve people, not your purses!
   Guard a piece, not your villas.

  Dear Victoria,
   I’m very happy you’ve already got accustomed to living in New York! You made a long and exhaustive boat trip on a way to a better life.  I respect your desire to build a promising future. But do you have nostalgia for a native country? Are there any stereotypes about migrants? I hope you didn’t face with a sort of a hostility related to people who leave their homes in order to find an asylum in more prosperous countries.
  As we know, people, whom sometimes we call refugees, were escaping not from a good life. I’m among those, who suffered from a racial discrimination. There was always only prejudice and contempt because of our skin colour. One day, going for a wander, I realized that didn’t want to feel remote anymore. As a result, I’m here, in New York.

   It took some weeks till I could find some vacancies. Now I’m a garment worker.  I don’t have any time to chill out! It happens only once or twice a month when I allow myself to listen to the victrola or visit Coney Island. Moreover, my employer gives me a possibility to go away for a well done job. You can’t imagine what a wonderful feeling I have being off the beaten track and watching unspoilt stunning landscapes!
Formerly, you’ve mentioned that you live in a tenement apartment building which has five floors and 18 families living there. I’ve heard such buildings are run-down and have budget accommodation.  I was lucky to live in a house which was under the restoration.  Now there are almost perfect conditions. 
   I live at piece with my neighbours and we do each other good. 
   I have to thank you for a recipe of burekas! They have an excellent taste!  At the end of the day all families gather together in the open air and enjoy this dish.

   Do you know what? I have a proposal! Let’s take a relaxing holiday to recharge our batteries. It’ll be a good idea to set out, won’t it?
   I’m looking forward to hearing from you soon.
   Yours, Olesia

   My dear fellows, I won’t break new ground, if I say that the Ostroh Academy often opens its doors to the people who are always in the public eye.   Among them there are many celebrities. We knew them thanks to tabloids, quality newspapers and different journals. Most of them deserve only glowing tributes.
But have you ever met here any Hollywood stars? – I suppose only in your dreams.
   There is a person, whose visit had to be under the privacy, but the news leaked out very quickly. This event hit the headlines of many local and foreign newspapers and was broadcasted throughout the world! A scandalous and outrageous director, a man who’s famous for his lavish lifestyle and meteoric rise in a cinema industry - Quentin Tarantino! 
   Front pages of well-known magazines are full of scathing articles connected with Quentin. Paparazzi often pry into his private life, which cause a lot of rumors. In spite of this, viewers forgive all the lapses, because his talent as a producer justifies everything!
   News has just come in that Quentin is going to make a horror film at the Ostroh Academy. It’ll be called ‘The Session. Thanks for being alive’. It was outlined that Tarantino had a meeting with our rector and professors in order to understand better the peculiarities of this seat of learning as well as become aware of the process of passing exams and final modules. 
   Quentin takes the view, that this film will get the highest accolade and will be a little consonant with “To Kill Bill”. A source keeps us informed about his future plans. It is told he’s going to make the second part where will be more madness, tension and struggle for life – “A coursework. One night before an execution”.
   We’re keeping a close watch on further developments!

Quentin Tarantino on Fakebook

LEARNING INSTEAD OF STUDYING

   It’s common knowledge that without an education a person wouldn’t be accepted as a member of a modern society. We should give some thought a question: is our educational system appropriate to the 21st century human needs? Opinions are divided.
   There are people who take the view that a secondary education is a basis for the future. You have to be a straight A student, get the top marks, do all your homework in order to secure a place in seats of learning. Unfortunately, those people don’t grasp the importance that by forcing children to study, they just create new details for a bureaucratic mechanism (it was told about it’s functioning and origin by Sugata Mitra). It’s like a mud which doesn’t allow the society to move forward.  I honestly think an educational conservatism is the main disease at the age of cutting edge technologies and a rapid development of a mankind. 
   For other people it’s a foregone conclusion that we need an educational revolution.  This idea was supported by Sirken Robinson in TED Talks. They realize that for developing children’ mental agility it is necessary to have three essential components. The first is encouragement. If you’re not interested in what you’re learning, you’ll never do an exam or complete a course successfully. The second is cooperation. Only in a way of working together a process of learning becomes as easy as ABC. The last point is an access to the Internet. It gives a possibility to find any kind of information which could help you to pass an exam in flying colors or to enroll on some subjects as well as improve your knowledge with practice.
   There are my own thoughts in regard to the educational reorganization. Firstly, children should have more freedom of choice. Preparing all the lessons is a waste of time, which can be used with more profit, especially in a way of self-development. Moreover, I don’t subscribe to the opinion that a teacher is everyone who got a diploma of philologist. It happens very often that because of a teacher pupils become dissatisfied and bored. Principles have to be more diligent in hiring personnel. Schools have to bear in mind a kind of a motto: NOT Education BUT Learning.
   To conclude, I’d like to admit that the education shouldn’t be a sort of a “death valley”. Let it be a rain of alternatives and changes which will make it prosperous.