Youth Sounds Off
They will graduate in 1999 and are well aware that there is no future for them in a country which, in the words of one of them, is sliding into an abyss.
Tetiana SLAVYNSKA, Grade 11:
"This is my final year at the lyceum, so I would like to graduate this year successfully, receive a diploma, and enter the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute. My relatives will have less to worry about. And I wish Ukraine to have a normal President. This is very serious. I believe that it should be a fully competent man who could speak and dress well. I wish Ukraine would enter the European Market and be considered a normal country the world over."
Yuri FITINHOFF, Grade
9:
"I wish myself and all my fellow students good grades and every
success (laughs). And all the very best to my parents! Ukraine? Perhaps
no one can help it any longer. We need clever people! As it is, everyone
seems anxious to stuff his pockets with greenbacks. I would like the next
President to think about the country and have a head on his shoulders.
Then the rest would follow."
Oleksiy DNIPROVSKY,
Grade 9:
"I wish the best of health to myself and everyone else, because health
is the most important thing. Also, happiness to every family. May our finances
finally get straightened out. Our country must rise to the European level.
And this requires people in power with a totally different mentality. The
kind of administration we have today is hopelessly obsolete."
Valery ZHURBENKO,
Grade 9:
"I expect Ukraine to become a European country, so people won't
have to wait for months to receive their pay. Today it is impossible to
live normally in this country. Personally, I wish someone would make me
a New Year present of something to do with soccer - gear, badges, and suchlike.
And I wish Scootter, my favorite rave DJ group, would finally visit Kyiv."
Anton KOLESNYK, Grade
9:
"I want Ukraine to be governed by people truly capable people and our
President to be a relatively young, not an old man, interested in the country's
future. We need a strong authority capable of establishing and maintaining
law and order. Today's Ukraine is more like Kyiv Rus' in its period of
decay and breakup with each city virtually turned into an independent state.
Also, I wish our people would be more active. They must not sit back and
wait silently for whatever happens next. They should do something. And
I wish myself a new more powerful computer and to win prizes in physics
and mathematics Olympics."
Valeriya KOVALENKO,
Grade 11:
"I wish myself success and progress in my future job. I major in journalism
and hope to enter a university after graduating. And I wish to live to
see Ukraine's better future. And of course the best of health to my family
and relatives. I hope my mother will finally get a good job, because the
family's financial status is very low these days."
Iryna YANAUMCHUK,
Grade 10:
"I hope that all will be well with my family. I wish happiness to all
my relatives. And myself, of course. I would be happy to see life in Ukraine
get back to normal and its economy finally revived, with people being paid
regularly for their work. I wish to live among normal happy people and
not constantly worried aggressive individuals the way they are today. I
want people to have normal relationships and understanding."
Anastasia BYKOVA,
Grade 9:
I expect the New Year to bring new good friends. And my family
to live happily. In general, I expect new exciting experiences, love, and
success in my studies. A little bit of luck everywhere (laughs). Of course,
I want the Ukrainian economy to show a much better performance, so our
goods have a market. And I want all the people around me to look cheerful
and that all be well with them."
By Serhiy YEVSEYEV
Photos by Serhiy STAROSTENKO
Newspaper output №:
№1, (1999)Section
Day After Day
