child s smile is much wider than a paycheck

...It was spring 2002 when he first found out about the student exchange program. He was in Russia studying a Criminal Law in Saratov State Academy of Law, the oldest and one of the most prestigious educational establishments in his Motherland. It was quite a challenge to pass the tests to participate in this program, but he’d managed to win the opportunity to be an exchange student in an educational center of NC State University and to visit the USA for four month. As a result his twentieth spring changed his whole life.
…When he was getting ready to enter the rows of the Social Prosecutors’ Office, he was very proud of himself. He knew how to fill the main protocols of a criminal case, how to lead an interrogation on a criminal case, even hoe to examine the dead bodies. He had a feeling, that he was a specialist in Criminal Law. Also he was a part of investigational team under District Social Prosecutors’ Office. It was a volunteer job, because he was still a student. His general prosecutor assistant said often: “Thank you very much, curly. Go get some vodka, and let’s drink for our success. You will be a good investigator. I can feel it.” When he came home drunk his parents asked him about the reason that his is drunk, which he replied that “It was a part of educational process”. A lot of the times, when they interrogated criminals-beginners, guys of 16 -18 years young, the investigators beat them up during two hours of interrogation, using legs and weapons, verbally and morally insulting them to get the information out of them. Usually the interrogation rooms were located on the last level of the building, so nobody heard the screams. They purposely didn’t hit the face, so the interrogation won’t be so obvious. All these amoral actions were a part of his job, which he really liked and enjoyed. This was the way they served the justice, facing violence and human mistreatment. Moreover, this was a normal way life, which he was very proud of….
It was along flight from Moscow to New York, where he had a transfer in Amsterdam. Next day he had another flight, New York – Atlanta and then Atlanta – Greensboro, NC, which was very excruciating, because he never flew for that long. At the same time he couldn’t sleep because of his excitement and nervousness. He wasn’t very confident in his English and he didn’t know the people, who he was going to work with, he’d never been to US, neither his parents etc. All these thoughts made him very nervous. But everything turned out to be very well. He had a great summer, working with kids at the Educational Center of NC State University “SERTOMA”. This name stands for Service To Mankind. A part of this educational program was focused on deaf and “hard of hearing” kids. All the kids are a huge part of our mankind, and he realized that it was much better to serve them, then to serve the justice in Russia. He’ll never forget the kids’ faces, when he played guitar for them, singing in Russian. Their amusement didn’t know the limits, they’ve never seen foreigners, and never heard Russian songs. Especially when deaf kids had to touch the guitar in order to “hear” the music, they seemed the happiest creatures in the whole universe. His full name was almost not pronounceable for Americans. While working with kids, he’d learned English and ASL*, how to ride horses, how work with kind, to be their friend and the older brother in one person, and the most important he made a lot of friends, who he still keeps in touch with. It was a job, where his paycheck didn’t matter to him very much.
After that summer he went back home, where I had to start his “normal” life, serving justice, working for District Social Prosecutors’ Office. After the first week he realized, that he couldn’t handle it anymore, that it was “dirt under nails”. That wasn’t meant for him. He decided to stop working there. He signed the second contract for the next summer at the same center. Now he also quit the Criminal Law major at his Academy. Everybody laughed at him, blinded by their misunderstanding. But he didn’t pay a gram of attention, and went to North Carolina for the second time to “SERTOMA”. After his second contract was over, he decided to stay in USA. And few month later he moved to California, where is easier to get an education, and to find a job without a degree, so he could save some funds for the future steps through his life.
After finishing his education he really wants to dedicate his life to educational programs, helping kids to have happier childhood and youth, which he never had. The child’s smile is much wider than a paycheck, and you have to earn it...
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* язык америкаского суртоперевода