“Running up and down, up and down. There is still no sign of him. My heart beat is rising. I start to get nervous and I don’t know what to do. I am feeling so lonely. Breathe, breathe, just breathe, I am telling myself all the time. Stay calm, think and act. Get all your energy which is left, if there is some left.”

Larysa is just 17 years old. She had a side job working in a restaurant. One day her boss asked her if she could help out at an outdoor festival, in which that restaurant is taking part. So Larysa`s shift started at 8 am. She had to cary all the food, all the tableware and a lot more into the car, which would be transported to that festival. Afterwards she would need to help set up the stand, to sell the food and the drinks, to serve the clients and last but not least to take down the stand and to cary everything back into the car. Larysa was mentally ready to work 15 hours that day. But she didn`t know that everybody is going to let her down. In the beginning she received instructions; but it turned out she was the one giving instructions. It was a busy day with many clients, who bought food and many drinks. Larsa ran back and forth, back and forth, to take the orders, to serve the food, to pour the drinks and to collect the money. During the day Larysa´s boss was pleased how much money they were making. Being so happy about that, Larysa`s boss started to drink and drink and drink. There was no ending. Quite the contrary he started to pour some drinks for the other waiter. So Larysa had to deal with a drunken boss and a drunken waiter. In the evening Larysa started to gather everything together and to wrap all the leftovers.  Meanwhile her boss had already been gone for nearly 2 hours. Larysa`s watch said 12 am. She had already worked 16 hours. At 12 am the truck came to pick up the tent, coolers, the beer kegs, all the leftovers, etc. Larysa`s boss still didn`t show up and the waiter just left her alone with everything because he was too drunk. So there she was, standing alone in the middle of the night with a driver she didn´t know at all. She didn´t know whether to cry, to leave everything like everybody else or to look for her boss. She decided for option number three. So she and the driver started to search for her boss in all the streets which were close to thefestival. They gave up. Besides they couldn`t leave the stand unattended because she knew everything from the stand would have been stolen very soon. So she started to carry the beer kegs into the van by herself, which were very heavy. She continued to take down the tent. Luckily the driver was very helpful. Together they finished to take down the stand, to collect the tableware, the leftovers, coolers, the grill, heating plates, the big engines which are warming the dumplings up and the tables. The last part was to carry everything back into the van. That took them nearly two and half hours. They finished at 2:30 am and her boss still hadn’t shown up. Beside all that she was responsible for the money which they collected that day. Then she and the driver had to go back to the restaurant. She had to show him the way because he didn´t know where the restaurant was located. Actually the boss should have been sitting on that seat, on which Larysa was sitting at that moment and it would have been the boss’ job to lead the driver not hers. 45 minutes later they arrived at the restaurant; by then it was 3: 15 am, and they still had to carry everything back into the restaurant. Larysa was very tired and she didn`t know where to get some more energy but she had to keep telling herself not to give up and not to cry. Finally, after 20 hours or more, she finished work and left around five in the morning she left work.

That day she became aware of her strengths both mental and physical. She had proved to have great staying power and she realized that she doesn’t give up at least not readily. That day was a great preparation for life and the hard work waiting for her in the future.

Background:

Berlin, 1989, a historical year as well as an important year for Larysa because that was the first year Larysa saw the light of the day. Larysa grew up with her mother, sister and grandmother. Her parents got divorced when she was three. Her mom worked hard and opened up her own business. They never got any help of a man. Larysas´s mom had three jobs, in fact being a mom, a dad and the boss in her restaurant. She had to earn the money, she had to bring the food home, she had to clean the house, she had to cook, she had to do the housework including the technical housework, she had to raise her children and in addition she had to lead her own restaurant. Larysa always looked up to her mom and was so incredible proud of her. However everybody had to help each other in Larysa´s family. Larysa noticed that she and her family had always lived with the slogan: woman power.

Larysa was a very curious child, sprightly, full of spirits and concentrated on school.

But getting older and older Larysa realized that she was searching for an adventure. The USA was the answer. Her biggest dream was to go as an exchange student to the USA and to experience the high school life. But how? Agencies would have charged you around 10.000 $ and her mom couldn`t afford this. In addition her mom didn’t want her to let her go to the USA. Larysa didn’t get any support and she felt very lonely. Anyway she tried to apply for a scholarship at the government. From over 1000 applicants she got under the last five applicants. Instead of being proud to belong to the five best applicants, she was disappointed about herself. Or was it more a sign of realizing that her biggest dream didn’t come true?

The next years Larysa had many side jobs such as babysitting, working in a restaurant or giving some private lessons to students. She started to save money to get a driver license with costs around 1500$ in Germany and her next goal was to afford an Au Pair year in the USA. After Larysa finished high school, she applied for the agency”Au Pair in America”. Larysa had to convince her mom about that idea. There were many discussions and fights about that issue but Larysa was obstinate and this time she fought for her dream. Her mom’s fear was that once her daughter will leave to the USA, she won’t come back to study. School and university was a very important issue for Larysa’s mom and her mom was keep telling her that she needs to learn to succeed. Larysa knew exactly that she would go to university one time but not after highschool because there was something else waiting for her, in fact her big adventure to the USA. After living that one adventure, she knew she would be ready for university. Larysa didn’t try to convince anybody anymore; she just followed her feelings and her dreams. Instead of talking the talk, she walked the walk. Her mom noticed that engagement and her ambition. Larysa’s mom had realized it was not about her, it was about what her daughter wanted and she saw how important it was for her child. After realizing that, she supported her daughter in all the way a mom can support her own child.