Vasylysa Yılmaz writes Indigenous Ukrainian, I was grafted onto Turkish rootstocks almost 14 years ago. :) I mixed my Journalism and Event Management background with Gastronomy to create Food and Wine Tours in Turkey. Since 2022 I have studied for DipWSET and I am finishing it in July 2024.
Don’t cancel your passion
“I have to cancel it” - I will always remember the moment this thought struck my mind.
I was at the beginning of the year which was supposed to be the happiest in my life: fully booked for a year ahead, I was about to start my WSET Diploma journey, the education I could only dreamt about before.
Don’t mean to dramatize, but when you are based in a country with Zero Diploma providers and a very limited access to international wines, even to start a Diploma becomes a real challenge. I was so proud and felt on the top of the world that I finally managed to do it!
But suddenly it was all over: I registered for the DipWSET course just a few weeks before Russia invaded Ukraine… As a Ukrainian who lived abroad for many years, I had no threat to my life. However, in one night I lost my business and income, professional connections, my goals and plans were smashed badly, but not that bad as my friends’ lifes. Everything looked so meaningless and depressing. I was paralyzed by the news and social media feeds. I couldn’t find any energy to plan and act.
“I have to cancel it” - I kept thinking about my DipWSET course, because I had no idea how I was going to afford to study in these new conditions. Cancellation seemed to be the most logical thing to do. But this passion for wine was the only remaining connection between two very different persons: me in the past, before the war, and me now. And also, probably, with me in the future?
You never know what is going to happen tomorrow. So what is the point of postponing your dream? Plus, I’ve got plenty of free time at that moment.
Next question was how to pay for it. I decided to look for a solution, I applied for all the bursaries I could find and for the first time in my life I received one! I found new remote work, I became a wine judge and I met amazing people.
That is how my passion for wine helped me to make it through the darkest period in life.
They say it takes about 2 years to properly heal the trauma. Diploma studies became my therapy and now, after almost 2.5 years I finished it. I gained amazing knowledge and I feel like despite everything I moved to the next level.
But most importantly, my Diploma journey shaped me again. And I am done with that war trauma too.
Now, when I taste the trendy and stinkiest New Zealand’s Chardonnay with reductive notes of flint stone, it takes me directly to my childhood, to the seaside in Crimea where I used to play with pebbles and strike sparks out of flint… With exactly the same aroma!
But I don’t burst into tears, I just smile and grab the whole bottle. :) I know that world would never be the same again and I’ll never be the same again either. But now I know which bottle I need to travel directly to my memories. And by the way, I can fully appreciate this winemaking, because I did that Diploma!
There is a recent discussion on the benefits of wine education. If you ask me, in a modern world it is not a diploma or certificate that brings you success. But your passion does. If wine is your passion, there is nothing wrong with learning more about the thing you love.
I can prove with my own experience that if you have a passion to follow, you will be successful. You may lose everything in your life, but your passion will still be with you even during the darkest times, it will lead you, heal you and shape you again and again.
Just don’t cancel your passion.
It was my biggest dream to FINISH the DipWSET course. But the wine moment I’ll never forget - the moment when I decided to NOT cancel this journey and made my first step to START it.
The photo is the author's own. Caption: My healing progress and homework for DipWSET tasting exams: my husband just poured those glasses for me and my grandmother inspires me from the photo.
