The Adventure of Aysenur in Baker Street

by AYSENUR TOPAL (Turkey)

A leap into the unknown United Kingdom

My biggest wish, which I was afraid of realizing but prayed for years and was the biggest struggle of my life, came true on 23rd September 2020 in the Sherlock Holmes museum. It all started when my friends set up a Sherlock Holmes movie to watch during a free lesson in high school. From that day on, I was determined to watch every Sherlock Holmes movie, read all his books, and I would ask myself, "I wonder if I will travel this street one day" while exploring the famous Baker Street on Google Maps. Finally, I was going to be able to take a real journey through the streets which I had travelled virtually for about 6 years. When I started college, I decided to learn English, which naturally was my weakest subject in my studies. Everything I did, I did in the hopes that it would one day allow me to go to the UK and fulfill my dream. I wanted to take part in the Erasmus Internship, which gave me the opportunity to choose the country I wanted to go to. For me, this country was, of course, the UK! Within the field I was interested in, I found a university and a professor, and I began to write my letter of intent to send it to the professor. I worked on this letter for months. I consulted many of my friends and teachers to fix the letter. The Erasmus applications deadline at the school was the 11th of February, but I was still working on my letter of intent until the 7th of February. I did not send the letter off earlier because I thought my family would not allow me to go, even if I was accepted. However, for months I had focused on and put so much effort into this letter. I felt like I was in a state of limbo and so decided to send the letter to the professor to get rid of this burden. The professor was my only chance at making my dream come true so at 8.48 pm on the night of February 7th, I sent the letter. The deadline for the applications was on Monday, and I only had one day left to get a letter of acceptance. Yet, just 11 minutes later the answer came! The professor agreed for me to complete an internship with them! All those months of hard work and effort had paid off. I could not sleep that night because of all the happiness and excitement I was experiencing. After so many years of praying, imagining and wishing, my dream was about to become a reality. I received the letter of acceptance from the Erasmus internship program the next day. It all happened so quickly and I was in shock. I printed the letter, which would bring me one step closer to going to 221b Baker Street. After countless struggles related to the Erasmus Office and the visa process, I finally arrived in London. The first thing to do was to go to Baker Street. I was using Google Maps to go to Baker Street and when I raised my head, I realized I had just arrived there! Suddenly I started to cry because at last, my biggest dream came true! I quickly got a ticket from the store and joined the queue to enter the building. For a moment my hands were shaking and someone in the queue asked me "Are you okay, you seem like you’re about to faint?". I was so excited, and I think everybody was looking at me. However, I did not notice any of them, because I was just trying to feel and memorize every detail, as I would never have a chance to live this moment again. My eyes were looking around everywhere and my mouth was in a constant smile. When I remember this wonderful and memorable moment, I always smile and say to myself "I achieved my biggest dream in spite of many struggles, I never gave up and I really appreciate and thank myself for that ." This event taught me to believe that I can achieve everything I want.