Asadbek Urakov

Good morning, afternoon, and evening, dear friends,

Days have passed, and deaths and births been registered since we last talked on this channel.

First off, I want to congratulate and wish patience everyone on the start of the ultimate college admission period, promising to be heart-breaking both out of success and non-success.

There's a lot to say, a lot to talk about, and many changes been in my life since.

Coming with fresh ideas and an aged or wiser outlook on the world and beyond, I can't wait to talk more.

See you very soon, this time without pause.

Welcome, everyone!

29.05

I have read enough biographies of people—more than I can count on my bare hands: Pushkin, Franklin, LeBron, Levrone, Caesar, and many more. Yet, I never read about my dad; I never got a chance to talk to him about his life. That was the glimpse of experience I could not get. It was too late.

Now, three days before his three-year farewell, I came across an article by a journalist writing about my dad and how it all began. Yes, I have heard many short stories about him from different people: mom, brothers, teachers, and people in politics. However, I never came across a comprehensive biography in one place.

Reading each line, filled with mixed feelings, I related back to my origins. It felt like I was finding the missing parts of the puzzle of 'me.'

I was too young to understand that he was an embodiment of what I want to achieve in life. Starting from just an ordinary position, with no solid background, he made it to the top, not by the support of people behind him, but by his show of empathy and responsibility.

I never realized I was living with such a person from whom I could gain a lot of insights on life. He did not talk much to me about his life; perhaps I was too young to know that. But, he would take me to his daily job tasks with him. Yes he did not, but I was there.

I remember he was arguing with a representative of the Ministry of Health to renovate the maternity hospital. It took three years for them to allocate finances for that, which, after successfully completed, saved tens of mothers and allowed them to have their babies happily.

He built an amazing family and balanced it with stressful work, which involved the everyday threat of going to prison, taking the responsibility for 280,000 people not just for one year, two years, or three years but for the entire 13 years from 2004-2017. He was hated and loved at the same time. So many people thank him for the things he did for them, even after he is gone.

I carry on his legacy. I carry on his existence. It is his blood that runs through me: to be among people and contribute to the common good, not just to be distracted with something that takes all life in vain. To be honest, I can’t be any better or equal to him;

This is the first time I am publicly reflecting about my origin and life; thus, I want to finish this post with one of my private reflections about him:

"I have distinct memories of us visiting houses where people were bidding their final farewells to their departed loved ones. When someone passed away in our town, it was customary to hold a special farewell day with religious leaders offering prayers and bidding them farewell. My father attended nearly all of these ceremonies, and perhaps upon his own passing, more than a thousand people attended his farewell. He was with people and among them."

I have no word to say: it all enough for thinking how life is this way and never reaching a conclusion.

thank you, dad. see you soon.

Messenger Boy:
The Thessalonian you're fighting-- he is the biggest man I've ever seen. I wouldn't want to fight him.

Achilles:
That's why no one will remember your name.

Finally, announced the battle.

Here.

@asadbekurakov

The change.

The march test—the anticipation, the happiness, and the anger. Today, most of our students have taken the SAT in March 2024. As regular as it may sound, the test presented a new look, a new appearance, and new insights.

Let me explain it with detailed background information.

January 2022, the SAT, with its paper-based format of the test, was intimidating. Its 52 questions, along with 5 advanced and diverse-range passages, made students struggle with the appearance of the test. 1500 was a milestone, a dream of almost all candidates and seen as an indicator of hard work. 1500 was, indeed, solid, serious, and scary.

January 2023, the SAT, changing its format from paper-based to digital, looked fresh and new. We, just dealing with the character of that paper-based scary test, had to adapt to the new, unprecedented, and Columbus-like SAT.

December 2023, we were happy but at the same time sad that it no longer required as much blood and flesh from the students and us to conquer that 1500 SAT score. Yet, we did miss the seriousness, the scary look, and the solidity of the SAT, specifically SAT 1500. Yes, we did miss it. We were unsure of how undervalued it became to get a 1500, as every second student had a 1500 and as the colleges went optional.

March 2024, the College Board fully moved to the Digital SAT Exam for both international and national—the US—students. We, with the same look of the digital SAT, awaited our students' results to skyrocket. Yes, we are still grateful that we were able to maintain our median score in the same manner, but individually, the test was different—not difficult, not easy, and not tricky, but there was one thing that was different. Contemplating for hours with our team members, we concluded that several recent events can make sense of the change of the Digital SAT in Uzbekistan:

1. Universities going test-required: we thought about how universities are going to believe in SAT scores if they are being inflated, meaning that a 1500+ was not a big deal anymore. Students did not really put in effort, though it was always competitive among our community members, and still got 1500+ compared to the efforts put in by the Paper-Based Exam. The question was still ongoing, yet we kind of know the answer to the question. The assumption is that the test, becoming more challenging to score in the high percentile, would be a very good indicator of a student’s academic background.

2. The implementation of the Digital SAT Exam in the US: The College Board’s attitude toward the global implementation of the Digital format of SAT added more solidity to the international test. Therefore, the College Board’s new change affected the test internationally.

3. Release of Bluebook Practice Test 5 and 6: Bluebook Practice Test 1-4 reflected the SAT score students would get on the real exam. However, on the last note in March, it really did not. The release of another set of questions offers a new perspective on the solidity, seriousness, and scary look of the Digital SAT exam.

In conclusion, still an assumption, we are expecting the test to be harder than before. It gets increasingly effortful to score 1500+ again. We will again come back to the flesh and blood of the SAT Test.

In final conclusion, it is still an assumption. Time's wiser than all of us.

@asadbekurakov