06/17/2026
Meet Class of 2026 Member
Svetlana Bashkirtseva
Major: Computer Science
Svetlana Bashkirtseva grew up in Elektrostal, a town near Moscow. When she arrived in the United States from Russia in 2020 at age 17, college felt out of reach. "I was not sure if I was capable of going to college in a different country and in a different language," said Lana. She also didn't know how she would pay for it and no longer had access to her high school diploma.
In 2023, she learned that she could apply to college if she passed the GED. “My goal was to finally start my college education and to prove to myself that I could succeed,” she shared. She passed and applied to Kingsborough Community College on the recommendation of a friend.
Lana says her love of computers goes back to childhood, so when it came time to declare a major, there was never really a question. "I just couldn't imagine myself doing anything else," she said. "Computer technologies have always fascinated me, so when I had to choose my major, it just made the most sense."
It wasn’t an easy decision. For much of her life, Lana carried a belief that she wasn't "smart enough" for certain subjects, math in particular. KCC helped her challenge that. She credits the benefits received through ASAP and her advisor, Sarah Beck, with helping her stay on track and complete her degree on time. "My 'aha' moment was realizing that struggling with something doesn't mean I can't do it," she said. "It just means that I'm doing something difficult and I should keep going."
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Read more:https://tinyurl.com/yjbjjb26
