Творчість моїх учнів

                                                    A collection of compositions  

                                      written by Knyazeva Alexandra

                                         11^th form of Ukrainian philology

My favourite painting

This painting is called “Cancer” and belongs to the brush of Josephine Wall. It shows us a woman, who looks like a nymph and a crayfish. The picture is full of bright colours and at a glance it’s hard to understand what is painted on it. This picture is filled with harmony and poetry. Actually, this painter has series of such paintings named after Zodiac signs. And every picture shows something special of the described sign, something which can be close to the hearts of people, who were born after that sign. And the picture keeps some mystery, something eternal.

I was deeply impressed by this painting, it impressed my inner world and pleased my eyes with it’s idea, warm colours and the way brushes were used. It really deserves admiration.

The day that changed everything

The day I’m going to speak about is a special one. And maybe this story is too private, because even my parents don’t know anything about it. It’s possible to say that this story taught me to live without parents’ advice.

This day started like an ordinary one. In the evening I was searching the Internet and logged in on Elfworld site. As usual. There I realized that a new girl appeared here, and she seemed to be really close in mind with me. So we made friends together.

You know, she’s the only person in my life whom I can tell everything, without thinking of being fool. She always understands/

After some time I met her brother, who seemed to be eager to become my friend. But now I realize that it was all a lie. He was telling so truth like, tender and passionate things. But then he broke up suddenly, without any reason.

This first strong feeling I had caused me to survive the most dreadful times in my life. Times of deep pain and sufferings, of thinking about death and begging him to return.

This situation repeated again and again, as he was always returning,  and I forgave him. But finally I got fed up with it. Bored with this lie and pain. I got over it.

This situation had a strong impact on my personality. I really changed. And it’s something I can’t forget. I don’t think I am able to become the girl I used to be before. Because the heart remembers everything. Because my soul has changed.

My favourite season

First of all, I would like to mention that every season of a year has its pros and cons, and all of them have something special and beautiful. And it is very hard to choose your favourite one.

As for me, my favourite period of a year is spring. You know, many people would say that it is because in spring everything is waking up and turning to life. Everything is in bloom. But for me spring is something particularly special, it is a season when all my soul longs for life, happiness, when it’s full of strong feelings and delight. I adore those changes in nature, those smells we can feel only in spring! It brightens my spirit and makes me feel that I’m truly alive and full of energy.

Many poets and writers describe spring as the season of resurrection and senses. And I really agree with them. Spring – it’s the time  of bloom of feelings, especially romantic ones. And I’m so happy to see those couples who found each other in spring and experienced the thing, which we call love.

Gain a wealth of experience

Today your degree in some subject is becoming the minimum qualification for any white-collar job. No, when we live in a more complex world, than in the past, most of jobs require a much higher level of intellectual skills that ever before. So if you want to find a job, you should remember that besides your degree you need to have special six ‘key skills’. Those include communication, using and presenting numerical data, problem solving and information technology, team-working, which is growing in popularity now, and improving your own learning and performance. What is more, a lot of employers want their recruits to have some practical experience. If, while studying, you can’t find a job relevant to your area of study, don’t be upset. Even in the most menial jobs you can analyse everything you see and do and what your colleagues at all levels are doing, so the job can be used as a learning opportunity. You can apply this knowledge to your future job. And keep in mind, that you may not find a lifetime recruiter, so be ready to communicate with different kinds of people.

A letter about New Year’s celebration

Dear Chris,

As you know, last year we celebrated New Year at my friend’s place in a country. I was so excited as it was my first time and experience of spending my holidays in the country! That is why I decided to prepare for it in advance and make presents for everyone with my own hands. Those were little pieces of sewing and some necklaces.

As for the weather, it was really great! There were a lot of snow and we tried to make some sculptures of it. It was lots of fun!

After that we returned to the house and were fascinated by the smell form the kitchen. Our mothers were preparing some specific and very delicious dishes, unfamiliar to me. Some new salads fit those dishes wonderfully and made our diner unusual.

The rest of the evening and night we spent talking, laughing and watching New Year’s programmes on TV. I was so pleased when everyone liked my presents! At midnight we listened to the wishes of our president and made our own well wishes. It’s kind of a mystery, but usually next morning I can’t remember what my wish was last night!

Anyway, our celebration was great and I would like to hear something from you! How does your family celebrate New Year?

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Lots of love,

Sasha.

A letter about English lessons

Dear Mary,

I have received your letter, where you said that you have problems with studying foreign languages. As you know, I’m very interested in it, so maybe I will help you!

First of all, I agree that studying Maths and History is very interesting. In spite of the fact that I had problems with Maths some time ago, during my last years at school I liked it very much because I understood it. But foreign languages are quite different thing. Here you shouldn’t try to understand ‘by your brain’, as one of my friends said, you should feel it.

Foreign languages now are very important and nearly every job needs knowing at least English. That’s why it’s necessary to study them.

At our lyceum we are able to study English, Greek, French and German, and it’s great! By the way, when you feel that lessons of languages become boring, try to think of all abilities and at least a feeling of pride you will receive when a lot of languages are known! This thought helps me to deepen into studies and makes lessons interesting for me.

And, of course, a lot of factors depend on the teacher. Of you are looking for a private teacher, try to find a person, who you really like and who is interested in his or her subject. It’s a very important thing.

So good luck to you, and I hope some of my instructions will be helpful!

Best wishes, Sasha

.A letter about clothes

Dear Amanda,

I’ve received your letter and it seems to me that your problems are familiar to a great amount of girls around me. But in fact, it’s not a problem at all.

To begin with, I’ll say that today’s fashion really gets on my nerves sometimes. It’s not practical at all and a lot of things are just tasteless. To make those clothes look attractive on you you should have an ideal figure.

I prefer to buy clothes which may be not fashionable, but suit my figure and hide some shortcomings of it. If I can’t find anything in shops, I usually ask one of my acquaintances to make what I want. Anyway, usually I but clothes in shops or at a market, and my parents help me. But now, when I want to find something of a particular style, I choose myself.

My advice to you will be ‘Don’t try to follow the fashion, it changes every minute. Try to buy clothes which really suit you’. And if you want your clothes to look smart and expensive, it’s not necessary at all to buy it in a designer shop. You may find a person, who will make it for you and your task is only to buy a beautiful cloth, which will make you look wonderful. It’s even better, because you can add whatever you like to your future dress or suit.

I hope that you and your parents will be satisfied with the result if you follow my pieces of advice!

Best wishes to you,

Sasha.

How has the changing role of women effect our world today? Do you think this change has been good or bad? What kind of changes do you imagine by the year 2050?

As we know, comparing with the XVth century the role of women in the society has completely changed. There were periods in history when women did not have any opportunity and rights. After that there was a time when they fought against gender discrimination and, finally, received what they wanted. It was the same position in the society with men. But are these changes good or bad?

It is a very controversial problem. One the one hand, now women have a right to get education, to find a job, even to be in politics. Though, on the other hand, women cannot be on the same position with men because they are physically weaker. If we speak about working on roads, it is just horrible, when women do such a work instead of men. I cannot make head nor tail of this.

Those changes influence the world and society we live in. As women achieved their sour grapes, they had to become stronger to survive in the society without a protection of a man. As a result we see strong-willed independent women and weak men, who now do not need to be strong and are not able to protect anyone, And all we can say in reaction is: ‘That’s the way of the world!’

By the year 2050 it seems that our humanity will face a lot of gender problems. I mean, there will be a lot of people who has lost the gender orientation and pretended to be people of another gender. And really, somehow it is a result of women’s attempts to achieve independence by hook or by crook. In the past our women were hog-tied, I agree with it. But now, when a person who deserves nothing pretends to be educated and independent – it is really for the birds. We should have a go to stop it by changing ourselves in order to change the society. Otherwise it will be even worse. I bet.

Live to work or work to live

As the proverb says, so many men, so many opinions. Every person chooses his or her own approach to work and life. For ones work is just a way of getting money for living. For others – it is the sense of life.

To my mind, this choice depends on two factors. The first one is personality, and the second one is a kind of work itself. If a person is restricted and has no particular interests, this person will not live for work. Sometimes such people do not even live for themselves – just for nothing. On the contrary, if person is interested in something or even addicted to something – then this person may want to live for fork only. There are a lot of talented people who devote their lives to work they adore. And it does not even mean if they receive money for their work. People who work to live only are anxious about themselves and money, which makes them poor mentally. While people who live to work always develop and improve themselves and their skills.

What about me? I have not made a choice by myself, my heart has made it for me. Because when you work, you have at least one thing to live for – it is the result. As Helen Keller stated, ‘true happiness is not attained through self-gratification, but through fidelity to a worthy cause’. This means, that only when devoting every part of your mind to the work worth doing, you develop yourself. And I am on the same point of view.

Life as I see it

Everyone sees life in some special and particular way, that is why our approach to life is different. What about me exactly? I treat life like something always unexpected and unpredictable. I will try to explain.

First of all, keep in mind that life is beautiful. Even if you are depressed, remember that life in general is a gift, and it should please you. We are living in such a great world, that we should appreciate every second given to us by heaven to observe new things. We should try and take everything in a positive way, without waiting that someone will give it to us. ‘World owes you nothing’, - Mark Twain stated, - ‘it was here first’.

Secondly, life is a challenge. You have to pass through a difficult struggle and you just are to be the winner. But the result is worth any loss.

Life is just a…life. With tragedies and comedies, adventures and troubles, games and responsibilities, songs and dances, dreams and real things. Life gives you the most important opportunity you can ever have. An opportunity to live happily. To hear sounds, say words, read letters, see colours. Life is bright, you see. It should be filled with emotions, experiences, aims and achievements the same as with sadness and thoughtfulness. All experiences are needed, definitely needed. My choice is to make the best of my life, to observe as much miracles as I can.

My plans for future

Although a lot of people of my age do not think about their future and avoid making serious decisions, I got used to take the life thoughtfully. I understand that my choice depends on my decision only and I am the one who is responsible for it.

That is why I have already decided to continue studying. I am planning to enter the university in order to become a qualified specialist in a particular field. Possibly I will choose to study foreign languages, because I am fond of it and this skill is very useful nowadays. And after graduating from the university I will try to find a jib which will suit my preferences, abilities and character. I suspect that in daily life I will not have practice in English and other foreign languages, that is why I need to find a job connected with them.

In finding a job I will definitely be accurate and careful. The reason is I am not used to putting all eggs in the one basket, it is better for me to think carefully about all of the pros and cons of the job.

In addition to everything mentioned above, I should mention that in future I will be developing my talents, if they really exist. I mean, I will be creating new worlds by writing stories, novels and books, because I have a lot of ideas.

So as you see, I have made up my mind about the future. And of course, as a representative of our new generation, I will try to do my best in order to change the world around, the society, the country. Because the fate of our country is in our hands,

Ideal family

‘In an ideal family everything should be in apple-pie order’ – this is the vision of perfect family among people. I mean the most expanded one. Though, every person has own point of view and I am going to present mine.

First of all, for the marriage to be successful people should have something in common. Maybe some interests, features, opinions. To my mind, perfect marriage is to be based on love, and love is the only thing which can protect family. When choosing a person who are your second half it is important to distinguish between cupboard love, puppet love and a real feeling.

Continuing this thought I would say that wealth in the family is not the thing which makes people happier. Sometimes it is even the opposite. Bu what is really needed is sympathy, ability to give a hand at a pinch, to understand each other and to live like dog and a shadow. That is why love is needed, you see.

Ideal family – is cooperation, love in a cottage, long talks near fire-place, understanding without words, and children, who will be on the seventh heaven of delight being brought up in happiness and love. So to my mind, ideal family does not have to be done in black and white. It should be natural, nothing else. It should be as large as life. Unfortunately, a lot of modern families look like a performance or a play, where actors wear different masks. Other families are just ordinary, with advantages and disadvantages. Some of the wealthy ones are facing different problems every time, others, being as poor as a church mouse, are happy. You know why? Because they are natural. No play. No tension. No aggression, no anger. Calmness, love and mutual understanding. That is a recipe of and ideal family.

Our planet in 20 years

To begin our travel to the Earth in 2030, let us observe the starting position. Now, in 2010, we see destroyed environment. Polluted water, air and land, acid rains, nuclear waste. Everywhere. Now it is dangerous to breathe as people damage the lungs of the planet – forests. The air we inhale may be really dangerous for our health.

So let us take a train to the planet Earth in the future. We pay for the ticket, and the train begins to move.

As soon as we arrive and our foot steps on the ground, we raise our eyes. New world has been created for there 20 years. We see modernization of everything – people do not even need to move using their legs. Everything is being done by machines. All of the forests have already been destroyed, which caused destruction of habitat of animals. Now they are trying to find a shelter, but they just carry coals to Newcastle doing this. People have invented a lot of scientific devices to protect themselves from the sun energy, which now is not reflected by the layers of our planet. Why? Because they were thinned by poisonous gases 20 years ago. This is the land of future. Our future. As we see, days of human beings are numbered. 

If we do not want this to happen, it is necessary to start protecting the environment today. Maybe it will be impossible to do it tomorrow, or in a week, in a year. Because of our activities we are becoming endangered species. Even now. More and more every day.
 

 Sweet Recollections about Summer that Passed

Well, well, well… My beloved summer’s flown away. It left me face to face with a grievous fact – the beginning of a new academic year, the most marvelous time to remind sadly all the fabulously pleasant moments of long-awaited and so brief rest…

I used to dream about spending holidays on hikes,

or camping somewhwere in romantic ancient pinewood coming into contact with Nature, or climbing the mountains and watching panorama of coloured patches from the birdsight … Or to cross picturesque valleys full of flowers, deep dark ravines and chines, or come down dangerous caves… Or at least spend profitable time studying sciences at University library, sometimes walking for sheer joy with a bossom friend… But when the academic year was over, I was so tired and so exhausted, that my only wish was just to run away from all those books, lessons, hometasks, internet, libraries and the endless dataflow. I was eager to get a breath of sea air and veg out at sandy beach at least for a few days. Soon my parents proposed me to go on a package tour to the seaside. Certainly I agreed. My mom booked a premise at a boarding house (not a suite at all - ‘cause it’s too expensive - but cosy and suitable). And I hit the road… Watching field flowers by the roadside, when our bus was counting out kilometers on a hiway, I came to terms with myself that I wouldn’t start any relations during my vacation and would spend it for my own pleasure only.

But He was irresistible!.. I ran into Him the second day after my arrival. He had a perfect suntan and charming smile. Having a dip I noticed an uncommonly attractive guy springing up nearby from time to time. It was height of the season, and there were lots of water attractions. Soon I decided to ride my favourite “banana”. I wasn’t surprised when I found Him beside me, but I really was when in the middle of the route He suddenly pulled me down into the water and fell there as well!.. Sniffing and laughing, we tried to get acquainted. And how surprised I was when caught that He was my old and the best friend from Bizarre chat! I could expect to meet anyone, but not Him anyway! He was as glad and surprised as me and was checking me long trying to asure that it was really me. I couldn’t believe that I’d met Him! I never tried to imagine Him while we were “chatting” and more so I didn’t think He was so perfect! Clever, handsome, affable and so amazingly active! All the days long we were jet-skiing, or sailing, or snorkeling, or skin-diving… He tried to teach me surfing, but it was too difficult for me.  But then I really loved abseiling! It was a real adrenaline rush! Try it if you’ve never tried! It is sheer scary and terrifying, but so exciting!

In the evening we visited nearby restaurants and tasted different national cuisine or went to the disco clubs. I really loved small cafes where we were catered perfectly. We often sat at the seashore at night watching the sky full of flickering stars, which seemed to be so close… Sometimes we met the sunrise, it was so stirring and romantic!.. We believed the Universe was ours and that we were the happiest in the world because we had found each other.

And then we parted. It was unforgettable vacation due to Him, and I presume I’ll remember it forever. By the way, we are still corresponding…

                                                                                Alina Zamoshnikova