I was born in a small village Terek Say in Kyrgyzstan which is located 12 hours driving from the capital of Bishkek, it’s a small village where beautiful mountains are spread around and I have been thrilled to see how nature influence out of our life.

You know nobody wants to be a journalist in their childhood, I never heard such dreams from a kid, but I remember my passion to write stories started from trips which were organized by my parents. One of the trips which is captured in my mind was the summer of 1990 when my parents decided to take me and sister to the trip to Sary Chelek lake. I remember how we drove through the mountains and there were the labyrinth of roads. When we reached the beautiful lake I was mesmerized by the beauty of it and it looked great and strong and at the same time very fragile. I was admired by nature and endemic walnut forests surrounded the lake. 

Impressed by it, I have decided to start a diary notebook where I have written all my thoughts about lake. I also wrote many personal things which then some of my adult relatives noticed. The first story which I wrote was about this trip and all the adventures we had and everything we’ve experienced. One day my aunt took my notebook and saw how I wrote that I don't like to go to my grandma village because we should do a lot of work around the house. She was teasing me every time when I go to grandma's place whether I like to be at grandma’s house. After this I have decided not to write things about anything. But it did not last long. 

During my teenage years I liked to share my thoughts about Russian writers novels and during essay writing at the literature class I was best on reflection on them. By this time I have understanding the words could mean something and can really change and blow our minds.

I remember there was war in Chechnya and the Middle East, Afghanistan. I thought I could be a war or a frontline journalist. I don't know why I liked the idea to cover conflicts even though I am very peaceful person. I studied Arabic as a major then and did my diploma work on coverage of Afghanistan and Operation Enduring Freedom after September 11.  However as usually comes by graduation day, I started to think realistically and real work and money which I can find would be in a development sector. 

I had a period in my career when I intensively traveled around the country and covered the life of rural people and different aspects of their life. It could be stories of farmers who fight for their property and land, how ladies in a small village organize community groups and sell their harvest and make a profit of it. All of these kinds of stories made me close to my people and that is part of my career which  I’m proud of and I believed in my work.

At that time of my life I was truly in touch with my country in touch with my people and I was true, I was real. 

Having this background and this experience helped me to build my work as a communication specialist at Soros Foundation because I knew my country well and problems they deal.  Experience was also helpful arm and when I won a fellowship at US I learned about media industry from the heart of the democracy which was an example for us. Coming back to my country I saw the growth of journalism in my country and great pieces which some media outlets produced. Last year I headed the media development program at my organization. According to freedom of media indexes our country is still among partially free and journalists are still under attack and pressure. We witness stories of journalists which is criticizing the government, presidents, by the way the two of them run out of the country in the results of two revolutions, one of them is in jail now. Now working in media development sector as a program specialist I could say even though I didn’t become a war journalist I see that the work we do by creating an environment for freedom of expression and supporting independent media is a huge asset for our journalists in a situation of permanent pressure and violations of their rights. So now the dilemma to be  or not to be in journalism is not a question anymore. I am on the side of supporting our media community and it is also a good work I can do for our journalism.

Imagine this, you are on the verge of finishing school, you passed all exams and all you have to do is just wait for your diploma. Then suddenly, your parents wake you up at 8 am on sunday and tell you to go to University for some unknown exam. This is exactly how I entered AUCA, no plans, nothing. I didn't even finish enjoying my rest, let alone planning who I want to be. I was not able to escape this talk, my parents needed me to decide who I want to be, absolutely randomly I chose IT, hoping it would be my calling. No cigar. For days I was fighting with my parents about who I want to be, telling them simple: "I don't know".

"Many people are working not by their specialty" - I thought to myself. "I am boring", "I have no interests" - and so conclusion came to my mind. What if I just write about others.

Asylbekov Bekzhan

currently I am a 3rd year JMC student but when I first entered university during pandemic I chose Programming engineering major. At first I thought since I’m good at computers it will be easy. I wanted to get “big money” like they they advertise on the Internet. But the more I attended classes the more I started to understand that it is not my path. I was lagging behind my peers and I didn’t enjoy the classes. After first year of trying to force myself I decided that it was enough or else I would break myself and end up with nothing.

I started to look into other majors and I stumbled upon JMC department descriptions. I got interested in it because it turned out that this way I can engage and work with media in different ways and most important in a way that I enjoy. Since I was freshly high school graduate I didn’t know what I was good at or what I should do with my life but with JMC I finally found my passion. The process of switching majors was new to me and it was kinda hard to talk to officials and collect papers but in the end I succeeded. Right know I am eyeing digital marketing and I am working hard to study but now more with confident that it is my thing.