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Braving the corn for a dream

by Jason Rathod

"It's been like a dream," Katya Pekarskaya said about her journey to Grinnell and her experiences here. Although she was born and raised in Russia, and is planning to attend graduate school in England, Pekarskaya has lived a distinctly American dream.

Pekarskaya's story begins in Volgograd (formerly known as Stalingrad), Russia. Her roots run deep there-both of her parents were also raised there. "I didn't really get a chance to know any other place," Pekarskaya said. When she was young, she was able to travel to Ukraine and Belarus. "Besides that," she said, "the first time I was abroad was in the U.S. in 2000."

In 2000, Pekarskaya was accepted to a year-long exchange program that placed her at Grinnell. At the time, she was studying foreign languages at a local university. From her foreign language classes and personal research in guidebooks, Pekarskaya was able to gather at least a "superficial understanding" of America. When she looked at a map and located Grinnell, she had her reservations about coming. "I knew Grinnell was a good school," she said, "but the location made me nervous."

Apparently, the stereotypical image of Iowa extends well outside the United States. Pekarskaya said that even in Russia, "When you think of Iowa, you think of corn." Shortly after arriving in Grinnell in the fall of 2000, Pekarskaya's worries about attending school in Iowa had disappeared; from the people to the academics, she loved almost everything about the college.

She made a number of great friends from the outset at International Student Orientation and although she later branched out to make friends with American students, Pekarskaya felt a unique connection to fellow international students. "They're in the same boat as you, and understand how you feel," she said.

In terms of academics, Pekarskaya had a great appreciation for her classes. Intro to Economics and Macroeconomics were among her favorites. When her year in Grinnell was finally over, she was determined to return and change her major to Economics.

Visa requirements forced Pekarskaya to stay in Russia for at least two years. She studied hard and kept dreaming about returning to Iowa cornfields and in 2003 was accepted as a full-time student at Grinnell. She was elated, but knew that her matriculation hinged on financial aid.

Grinnell could only offer to pay for half of her education, which was well short of what she needed. Not willing to give up, Pekarskaya went to Grinnell's Rabbi Deborah Brin for help. Brin, in turn, wrote a letter to an alumnus asking for potential avenues of assistance. The alumnus wrote back and generously offered to pay whatever was necessary for Pekarskaya to come back to Grinnell.

Looking back, she finds it hard to believe the course of events that brought her back to Grinnell. "I don't know if it was luck, destiny, or both," she said. She is thankful to everyone involved, but especially Brin. "Deborah Brin is the reason I am here today," she said. In Brin's line of work, Pekarskaya's miracle couldn't have had more perfect timing-everything transpired during the week of Passover. Contemplating that fact, Katya, a Jew herself, said "it was just such a coincidence." Not pleased with the connotations of her statement, she partially amends it. "Maybe not a coincidence," she said. "Who knows?"

Although Pekarskaya had completed four years of college in Russia, she received only one year of credit from Grinnell. That year of credit plus her year at Grinnell gave her junior status. Pekarskaya seemed barely fazed that so few credits had transferred, opting to put a positive spin on things. "Just one more year at Grinnell wouldn't have been enough for me," she said.

Pekarskaya described her last two years as "very intense." As an exchange student, she vowed to become an Economics major. Keeping her promise has required overloading her schedule with Economics classes. Coupled with the stress of academics has been Pekarskaya's dense work schedule. Each semester she has worked four jobs, balancing time between the Forum Front Desk, the Burling Gallery, the Faculty House and the PEC Cage. To keep things interesting, every semester she rotates out the Forum Front Desk job with a job at the Forum Grill.

Busy with school and work, Pekarskaya generally doesn't find the time to go out. She does, however, enjoy living in Russian House where she can cook large meals and watch movies with friends when she needs to relax. Thanks to Galena Aksemova's class on Russian Films, Pekarskaya has recently become addicted to watching old Soviet movies. "The movies give me a nostalgia feeling, a piece of home," she said.

Pekarskaya will be thousands of miles closer to home next fall. Even with her rigorous academic schedule and four jobs, she has kept her grades high; so high, in fact, that she was able to gain acceptance to the prestigious London School of Economics (LSE). Next year she will enroll in an intensive 12-month program in Economic History at LSE. "The system will be so different," she said. "It's another challenge I've found for myself."

If history is any guide, luck, destiny or a little of both will be at work when Katya works hard to overcome this challenge next fall.

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