This is the Moth Radio Hour.
I'm Jay Allison.
And in this episode, stories about finding the light at the end of the tunnel, bright futures in dark times, and hope even when things seem hopeless.
Our first storyteller is Katja Duff.
Katia told this story at one of our open mic Story Slam competitions in Los Angeles, where we partner with public radio station KCRW.
Here's Katja live at the mall.
When I was 14 years old, my parents decided it was a great idea to get me out of school and move a million thousand miles away from.
From the far east of Russia, close to Moscow, so I could go to a great college.
Several years later.
I didn't want any of this.
I liked my school, I liked my skiing, I liked my rock climbing, my friends.
So when they just moved me to Moscow, I got very depressed.
In addition to everything, once we moved, we had a little bit of savings, but they suddenly all disappeared because of a financial crisis.
So when I came to my new school, not only we were poor, but also I had no friends.
I mean, it's all my fault.
I was very grumpy about moving and I didn't want any friends.
But the first year in the new school was extremely miserable.
So for my 15th birthday, my dad told me, I know what you'd like as a birthday present.
Let's go camping with a bunch of other adults and kids.
And this way you can climb the tallest mountain mountain in Europe.