contents - Gallatin School of Individualized Study - New York ...

tamar zurashvilitamar zurashvili Finding Encouragement94Dreaming of Tbilisi Universityagirl with an open book on her knees is sitting on the sofa at a window. Theroom is full of magic sounds of music that she loves so much. Whethershe is reading or studying, the music is always with her.The girl’s heart is full of joy; her eyes are shining. The next day she isleaving her little provincial Georgian town, but she is not thinking now aboutthose who will be left behind. She is looking forward and sees the huge, splendid,white building of the State University—the first and highest-level school in hermotherland—where she is going to take the entrance exams.Her soul is already fluttering into the corridors and rooms of the buildingof her imagination. The girl is so deeply sunk into her dreams that she cannotnotice the branches of her favorite mulberry tree through the wide-open window.The emerald leaves are trembling as if they are saying farewell to their friend whois going to an unknown future.At this time, the girl doesn’t know that her great dream will come trueand that the University will become the alma mater, not only for her, but for herchildren, as well. Now, her heart and eyes are full of dreams . . . dreams . . . dreams.Tamar Zurashvili is a 63-year-old native of the Georgian Republic, who has livedin New York for three months. She writes, “My country is famous for its art,songs, and dances. Nature is marvelous, with high mountains, rivers, resorts.I love my country, and I love the United States, too.” She is a student of MarieBareille at the College of Mount St. Vincent’s Institute for Immigrant Concerns,where Donna Kelsh is the director, and Mark Brik is the education director.