Yenlik O’Neill
Yenlik O’Neill describes herself as ambitious, responsible and conservative. She speaks five languages, and plays six musical instruments, but her biggest passion is photography.
“I was at an event, just taking photos of my friends, when the organizers confused me for the photographer they had hired. They loved my photos and this is how I got a job as a photographer. Now, when I think about it, if I wasn’t at that event back at that time, I wouldn’t be into photography that much,” she says.
Yenlik is 17 years old and comes from Kazakhstan. However, she has also lived in Brazil, UK, and Ukraine. Before coming to AUBG, she studied in math and music schools, and graduated from a business college in the UK. Yenlik’s choice of major for now is Journalism and Mass Communications.
“Journalism is something that I am interested in because I know that here in JMC classes we can express ourselves through the photos and videos that we make, which I find very exciting,” she says.
Except for photography, Yenlik plays three types of guitar, drums and the piano. She can also sing and play a national Kazakh instrument called dombyra. Here on campus, Yenlik is part of the Rock Jamming club, TEDxAUBG, and works at the Marketing office as an intern. She says that for her, inspiration comes spontaneously, but what keeps her motivated is her family.
“My mom is my role model because five years ago she realized that law is not what she wants to do her whole life, so she decided to self-study and concentrate on designing clothes. Now she basically knows how to do everything from scratch — from drawing to the final part when you see the clothes ready.”
When it comes to her own future plans and dreams, Yenlik says that she does not have something particular in mind. However, she is certain that in the next three years in AUBG she wants to find that special thing she would like to commit her life to.
“I think that I never had a dream about who I want to be in the future. I remember how all my classmates, when asked how they imagine themselves as adults, always answered that they want to become a doctor, a pilot, or whatever, and I never had such dreams. This has always been a confusing question for me. I didn’t really know at that time, and I don’t know now. I just still don’t have it.”
