Katya Levashova a simple village girl sees her boyfriend Yura off to military service and is going to enter the Pedagogical Institute.
Katya is determined to get an education and believes she is ready for challenges of the big city. But she turns out defenseless against meanness.
Her fellow students play a cynical practical joke, disgracing Katya for the whole institute. The youthful dreams of the girl are broken in a flash, and she has to start a new life.