Perm Essay Winners Win Lunch with Consul General
In May 2009 the city of Perm celebrated a 15 year anniversary of sister city relations with Louisville, KY. In the context of this celebration the Perm American Corner supported by the U.S. Consulate General in Yekaterinburg, the Perm City Council and the Sister-city Committee, initiated an essay contest among high school and university students. The contestants could choose between three topics: “A Day in My Sister City”, “What Would I Do to Make Our Cities Closer”, and “Two Cities by the Riverside.” The goal was to describe their opinions in English about the role of sister-city relations in improving partnership and mutual understanding between the cities and countries. More than 30 students came to the Perm American Corner to take part in the contest. Their works were evaluated by a jury that included the head of the sister-city committee V.K. Voloshin, the AC coordinator Sofia Slesarchouk, representatives of the Perm City Council, and several English language teachers. The competition was tough and exciting; it was obvious that the topic really captured the participants. Many of them appeared to be well prepared and dedicated to write their essays. Some essays turned out to be so exciting, lively and deep, that the ideas expressed in them would be really worth implementing in life!
The winners were awarded with prizes from the American Corner, the Perm-Louisville sister-city committee and the Perm City administration. The main prize was an invitation for lunch with Timothy Sandusky, the U.S. Consul General in Yekaterinburg. On May 22, three students from Perm came to Yekaterinburg: the 1st prize winner Darya Rakhimkulova from the Higher School of Economics, and the second prize winners Alina Mansurova from Lyceum #1 and Yulia Penzyakova from School #7.
Traveling by train the girls enjoyed several hours of conversation in English and lunch with the Consul General at his residence. The girls told the CG about themselves and their native city, about their study and career plans. Timothy Sandusky answered their questions concerning the warming of U.S.-Russia relations, his impressions of the Urals and different aspects of study and life in the USA. The students were excited about this unique opportunity to have a close talk and lunch with the American diplomat. After a short tour of Yekaterinburg the winners returned to the train station for their return to Perm, confessing that they would never forget this day. Yulia shared that this day had been even better than the last day of class (called the “Last Bell”) that she had had to miss at her school in order to come to Yekaterinburg.
The Consul General expressed the belief that students are the future of our countries and their active social position and participation in people-to people diplomacy is crucial for international cooperation and partnership between our great nations.