Tower and Town, March 2026 (view the full edition)From War To Caltech - Yuri's StoryWhen I left Ukraine in May 2022, I thought I'd be gone for a few months. The war had just started. I was sixteen and convinced it would end quickly. I would spend the summer in England, improve my English, make some friends, then go home. But unfortunately the war is still there. St. John's School in Marlborough took me in first. They put me back a year because I'd arrived during GCSE exams. I was frustrated at the time, but it turned out to be a gift. The work wasn't overwhelming, so I could focus on learning English. And unlike in Ukraine, where I'd studied fifteen subjects at once, here I could choose what I wanted to study. That small bit of freedom meant everything. Then my host family, Catherine and Chris Smith, helped me get a full bursary to Marlborough College for the sixth form. Walking into that school felt unreal. I kept thinking how am I here, studying with some of the smartest students in Britain in one of the most prestigious schools of the country. Reality hit fast. I was homesick. My English wasn't good enough to express how I felt or to keep up properly. I'd chosen four difficult A-levels Maths: Further Maths, Chemistry, and Computer Science because I wanted to push myself. Everyone at school was kind and tried to include me, but I struggled to make friends at first when I couldn't find the right words. The subjects themselves were hard, but the real challenge was understanding the terminology I'd never learned. The school saved me. They gave me extra English lessons. Teachers met with me in the mornings and evenings to explain things again. My classes were tiny (under ten students) so I could always ask questions. Bit by bit, it got much easier. In Year 13, I did well on the Cambridge entrance exam but failed the interview, as the stress of this got to me. So I chose Edinburgh instead, loving the city and their excellent Computer Science programme. By then I'd fallen in love with the subject. Now I'm in my second year, maintaining over 80% and I've just been offered a place at Caltech to spend my third year in California studying Computer Science. Another unexpected turn. The war changed my plans. But England taught me something more valuable. I could adapt. I could rebuild. I could keep going even when circumstances change. Those lessons will stay with me forever. Yuri Ilnytskyi |