My name is Maksim (nick name -
Max).
I came to US from
Crimea, which is an autonoumous republic in
Ukraine.
I was born in Kerch city (Crimea, Ukraine) on September 19th, 1971.
My father
Peter Ivanovich
received his first Bachelor’s degree in natural science and started his career as a teacher
in orphan house. Later he also earned Bachelors in Political Science and Bachelors in Military Command.
Now he works as a director of Cultural heritage of Kerch peninsula and supervises all museums, art galleries, archeological
excavations, protected by state churches and other treasured buildings as well as numerous monuments and other culturally
significant heritage.
My mother
Tatiana Alexandrovna
started her career as cafeteria cook and earned her way as the boss of
the chain of restaurants in Kerch. Now she is working as a director of benefits department for government agency that
assists service industry in my hometown.
My granddad on fathers side Ivan Petrovich tolled me fascinating stories about
his farmer's life, World War II experience and his wife (my grand mom) Nadezshda Ivanovna, who spent all their lives in
a remote small village Ivanopol located in Korosten district of Zshitomir region 5 hours of drive from Ukrainian capital
Kiev.
They gave birth to 3 children: Peter (my dad), uncle Adam and aunt Nina.
My grandfather survived nazi captivity, escaped Germans prisoners of war camp, joined partisan resistance army and later
covered half of Europe by foot all the way to Berlin
fighting against fascism
in artillery battalion. For his heroism my granddad was awarded with
numerous orders and Medal of Honor.
My grandma on mothers side Valentina Nikolaevna inherited traditional Russian
spirit from small (perished now) village on
Volga River, which considered representing real heart of Russ.
She married train company worker Alexander Egorovich and moved after Great Patriotic
War
to
Kaliningrad
(formerly known as capital Kerninsberg of West German Prussia). They raised 2 daughters Zoya and Tatiana (my Mom)
living humble life on miserable state wages.
At the present time my relatives’ spread all over the world:
-
Kaunas
, Lithuania (Adam and Alina Ivanenko family with my 2 nieces Irene, Kristina and nephew Oleg);
-
Pevek
, Chukotca (Nina and Peter Ivanenko family with 2 nephews Slava and Peter);
-
Kharkov
, Ukraine (my younger brother Alexey who goes to Air and Electronics Academy);
-
Kalinigrad
, Russia (my aunt Zoya and grandma Valentina); Ivanopol (Ivanenko clan kindred);
-
Kerch
, Crimea (my mother Tatiana and father Peter);
-
Reno
, Nevada (myself).
From my early childhood I was surrounded with caring and loving people first in kindergarten (from age 2),
then in elementary school (from age 6) and later in High school (from 14 years old).
I participated in world dance group during my elementary and middle school years.
During High school years I played
trumpet
in a brass band and completed musical school course.
I earned Bachelor of Science in
Physics
through 5-year study at
Simferopol State
University (in Crimean capital of Ukraine).
True comradeship was build there. I still keep in touch with many of my classmates through e-mail and airmail.
I conducted my post-graduate studies in Crimean
Institute
of Ecology and Recreation for 1 year in the field of
nuclear magnetic spin.
At that time I met American representatives of Collegiate Association for the Research of the
Principles
and attended various workshops, seminars and conferences. On September 4th 1994 I arrived to
Kodiak
, Alaska to participate in Leadership training program. Beside interesting lectures we were taught how to fish in
any sea conditions and take care of boat as well as people in it. I successfully completed Boating
Coast Guard
Training Course and moved to Brooklyn, New York.
Big city
life did not fulfill my dreams at that time and I moved to San Francisco, California. I enjoyed spectacular
SF Bay Area
nature and people, participated in numerous volunteer community projects and joined
Ocean Church
to train future leaders of the world. What a wonderful time it was! My work experience started as livestock technician at
Pan Ocean
Aquarium
Warehouse distribution system in Hayward, CA. I enjoyed working with exotic
creatures
from under the sea and going fishing almost every weekend at that time. My fascination in captioning God’s beauty led me in taking assistant
manager job at AG
Photo
Digital Image Lab in prestigious Rockridge district of Oakland, CA. I learned not only details of
chemical photo developing process, small business management skills, but also artistry of depicting simple wonders of human
experience in the form of digital images, slides, color or black and white reproductions.
But my scientific side of character took over in choosing new opportunities with e-commerce startup
Webvan.
I was quickly promoted from one department to another within Webvan and soon was managing Quality Assurance
and Inventory Control departments.
I still believe in revolutionary idea of saving customers family time by providing outstanding customer service in
delivering numerous goods and services (groceries, produce, deli, flowers, garden, baby, pet, auto, photo supplies and
developing, banking, dry cleaning, books, music, games, electronics etc) in one stop money-saving (tax free, instant
click-on coupons and discounts/promotions) pleasant shopping experience and same or next day distribution in chosen by
customer 1hour delivery window. Unfortunately many mistakes were made on upper corporate level and despite achieved
profitability in Bay Area Distribution Center, Webvan Corporation declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy on July 11th, 2001.
In order to broaden my career prospects I enrolled and successfully completed Information Technology program at
DeVry
Institute in Fremont, CA. My efforts were rewarded with offer to join
Amazon
corporation
(biggest on-line retailer of books and media) as Area Manager in Fernley, Nevada fulfillment center.
I miss my friends and relatives back in SF Bay Area and in CIS, but close by
Reno
offers some interesting events as well.
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