Elena Balkova

I was born in 1998 in Vyborg, a city in the very northwest of Russia. Vyborg was a part of Sweden and Finland for a long time, so I grew up in a place with Scandinavian architecture and history and Russian culture. I loved growing up along the Scandinavian shores.
I started gymnasium when I was seven, and unlike a normal child, I was doing homework most of the time because I actually loved it, and since mom was always working, I was the one telling myself that I had to study. My childhood was fun. I remember doing homework but I also had lots of friends that I would walk in a forest with behind our house and hide treasures. We would always find something to entertain ourselves and dream about our future as if we were eighteen-year-olds who were finishing high school.
Going to the gymnasium was rather hard but looking back, I am grateful for every single experience that helped me to grow up spiritually as well as emotionally. The grades in Russian schools are always announced in front of the entire class, and this is why we always compare ourselves to each other. I learned to really appreciate BYU policy on grades when I realized that nobody is going to tell another person your grade. I learned to choose to fail the test instead of cheating. I learned to love the teachers who would shout at us for not accomplishing our homework. Going to the gymnasium was hard but I would never trade that experience for anything else. Throughout my teenage years, I enjoyed studying and going to school.
At the gymnasium, my favorite classes were English and history. I was going to apply to a Russian university but then, I had a chance to apply for BYU, and I decided to give it a try. It was the most difficult and at the same time the best decision I have made in my life. Being far from home turned out to be harder than I expected but I am learning great things and I know I am getting the best education I could hope for.