definition, being “the kind of person who does this or that”… I was always plural. Always in motion. No
one asked me, but I always felt it: my life would never be limited to a single path. And so it wasn’t.
I was studying international relations, but they told me I couldn’t become a diplomat. My grandmother
was Russian, and at the time, that was considered “inappropriate.” I laughed. Because even if I wasn’t a
diplomat, I would still see the world. I even dreamed of becoming a backpacking journalist. I would
write, witness, and tell stories.
I went to Austria. I got lost in its streets, blended into its museums, squares, and foreign languages. I
seriously considered dropping out of university to travel the world. Then a voice inside me said, “Travel,
but learn through living. Learning doesn’t only happen at school.” So that’s what I did. I left university,
traveled, worked, earned money. I plunged into the world of fashion and design. I created collections,
joined fashion shows. The more I traveled, the more I learned; the more I learned, the more I
transformed.
As a woman, every decision I made on this journey was a struggle. For instance, my father was so angry
with me that he didn’t speak to me for two years. It was painful — I adored my father — but I didn’t
abandon my decision. One day, he said, “Well done, my beautiful daughter. Come often and tell me
what you’ve been doing.” Nearly all my high school friends looked at me as if I’d failed because I didn’t
finish university like they did. But I still didn’t change course. To protect myself, I put distance between
me and those friends.
My greatest discovery was this: traveling is a form of learning, and learning is a form of liberation. As
your body moves, your soul shifts too. Everything you learn frees you a little more. Looking back, I
realize I didn’t just travel through countries — I traveled through myself. Some cities taught me
patience, some languages taught me empathy, and some moments of solitude taught me how to hear
my own voice.
Then I understood: learning doesn’t just happen at school. It happens while walking, falling in love,
losing, beginning again. So if you’re a woman reading this, here’s what I want to say to you: your journey
doesn’t have to look like anyone else’s. Neither does your learning. Your age, your past, your decisions
— they don’t exist to limit you, but to shape you into who you truly are. The road is long, the
transformation is infinite. And with every step, you become more of yourself.