Undergraduate / "admission to the Tajik- Turkish high school" - significant challenge MIT [4]

Tell us about the most significant challenge you've faced or something important that didn't go according to plan. How did you manage the situation?(*) (200-250 words)

At the end of grade six I heard about competition announced for admission to the Tajik- Turkish high school with a new type of educational program similar to the European one. I tried and won the first place.

I was solicitously waiting for the first day of classes and was not expecting any problems to appear at my new school, but...The reality was that school matched more to the students came from Tajik schools: art subjects were studied in Tajik and science subjects-in English.

In my former school basic language was Russian and all attention was given only to learning Russian culture; we didn't even have Tajik language teacher. I started to face difficulties with my Tajik language and literature classes, especially, as some changes were introduced into the literary Tajik language during last seven-ten years. I stayed up late at nights, sleeping only 3-4 hours a day doing my homework, memorizing poems of classic Farsi poets. At the beginning it was very difficult but as time passed I could better understand all those hidden meanings of poems and prose, as if transgressing to the same time with poet. In the end of the quarter I was happy to see in my report card that I got 5 from Tajik and Tajik literature.

Maintaining good marks is obviously important, and I'm accustomed to studying a lot. I felt that something inside me woke up from the deep dream, screaming out 'You are Tajik'. I gained what I lacked for a long time: understanding of culture of my nation.

guyzzz, help me please!

Undergraduate / "computer science Olympiad" - department or program at MIT [3]

"Hello World!" Every programmer in the world has seen that on the screen when running first self-made program. So did I. We greet the world of programming.

It was two weeks before Olympiads when a friend of mine suggested to me to go computer science Olympiad. He was just joking but that joke provoked an idea in my mind to challenge myself and see what I can do. My grandfather used to say "There's nothing you cant do what someone else could already do."

I started my studies and at once fell in love with programming. Every algorithm is like a musical note "existing" in logical harmony with other algorithms. A part of a great symphony... This satisfaction from the work I did helped me to finish all needed materials in two weeks and get the first place in the Olympiad. Love for programming is still in my heart and that is why I Computer Science department appeals to me the most at MIT.

need your help...