Ambitious and hard-working, but wrapped in the cocoon of parental love and easy success, I followed my husband from Moscow to New York City determined to pursue my budding academic career. Instead, I fell in love with the challenges and creative opportunities of motherhood and became a stay-at-home mother. Upon the collapse of the Soviet Union, my child-rearing travails acquired a well-defined practical goal: I wanted our two daughters to graduate from a top American college.

It has been said that nothing is certain in this world but death and taxes. I would add raising children to the list. This topic is bound to remain relevant for as long as humanity exists. Moreover, in our fast-changing world, parents have to prepare their children for the unknown. In that sense, all American parents are raising foreigners now. Today more than ever, the account of a foreign parent's success is beneficial to all parents alike.