An immigrant from Russia now has aspirations for a purposeful career.
Mikhail was quite young when his family immigrated to the U.S. from Russia. Due to various factors, his parents found themselves living in poverty and without the ability to provide much for their family. Mikhail took the initiative to fund his post secondary education in order to achieve his dream of becoming a public planner. “I take great pride in the fact that my parents have not paid a single penny towards my education, and I intend to keep it that way,” stated Mikhail. Due to the HIPS scholarship, Mikhail was able to help pay off his tuition and focus on studying.
Mikhail is currently finishing up his BA in Geography for Urban Planning with a certificate in Geographic Information Systems and a minor in Spanish. He will receive his BA in December, and has been accepted to CU Denver’s Master of Urban and Regional Planning program which will start in January. He is currently spending his summer semester doing a directed research project, while working 15 hours a week in the CU Denver College of Liberal Arts Dean’s Office, and working 40 hours a week as a Trainer and a Team Lead at Chick-Fil-A.
“I am forever grateful for HIPS because the program ensured that I would be able to focus on my studies, and pursue my dream career of being a public planner. Without HIPS, I would have had to focus much more on where my resources for tuition were coming from, instead of the studies themselves. HIPS has contributed to my understanding of how limitless I can be.”
