This is a picture of kids who have finished the Access Microscholarship Program heading to the station after a thrilling three-day field trip to the capital city. My heart strings were tugged as I watched them dash away to take a twenty-four hour train ride back to Shymkent in southern Kazakhstan. While they visited, I had the chance to hear their reflections about learning English, building community, interacting with Americans, and growing up in the two-year program. Prior to snapping this picture, we had a delicious dinner of manti together, during which the kids plied me with a million questions and I heard about the excitement of riding on a train for the first time, staying in a hotel for the first time, seeing Astana for the first time, and taking a school trip for the first time. They were so exuberant with eyes wide open to new possibilities for exploring their own country and developing their own futures. My heart was touched, and, as they walked away, I wished they could stay just a little while longer.
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