At the age of fourteen, I decided that I wanted to have a career in architecture. For, I had been inspired by my father-- a civil engineer--who had asked me for help with his architectural drawings. A year later, I enrolled myself in a pre-college program in architecture and design. These teenage years were formative in that they served as an impetus for my perusal of architecture. Ever since, I have made all efforts in order to maintain architecture as an integral part of my life.

During my years in school, I grasped every opportunity that I could to learn more about architecture. I visited construction sites, communicated with clients and future residents, worked as a free-lance architect and interior designer, and took courses and workshops at the Moscow Architectural institute. I continued to work with my father, who had become my mentor, in order to learn more about structural design and construction. In 2008, I served as a volunteer in the architectural and planning department at a non-governmental organization in Moscow that resolved to improve the quality of life of survivors of the wars. It was here that I realized that the quality of life of this disadvantaged population was contingent upon my thoroughness and capacity as a designer in terms of my attention to detail and architectural standards. The experience caused me to understand at a very deep level, the responsibility associated with being an architect.

Following graduation, I began to work at a Municipal Unitary Enterprise, referred to as “The Administration of Capital Construction,” as I had become progressively more interested in project management and the social aspects of architecture. Working at the Municipal Unitary Enterprise gave me many new opportunities. I participated in discussions regarding urban planning and sought approval from specific city departments to build hospitals, sport stadiums, kindergartens, parks, concert halls, which are all financed from the local city budget. I also dedicated time to working with budget documentation as well as infrastructural and qualitative complaints from citizens. I realized how important architecture was in Russia as a means to improve the quality of life of the people and just how much reconstruction and improvement was required. It was then that I wished to fully dedicate the rest of my life to architecture and design.