Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory
My first “second home” was the “Saint Petersburg State Conservatory of Rimsky-Korsakov.” Besides the namesake, it accommodated Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, and Shostakovich at earlier times. I belonged to the world of academic music for long nine years - half of my boyhood. I never returned to a classic piano keyboard as an adult. Yet I dwelled in union with the self-transcending force of music. And later learned that many laws of the universe may be unravelled by observing rhythms and tones alone.
At age 16, I made my first $50, creating a six-page website. I felt a deep appreciation for the aesthetics of information design—text and graphics over the blank white web page. I studied many things at the University. Human factors and ergonomics, psychology, and human development. But nothing at the same time. Coming from a poor troubled family, I had to make a living with no financial and negative emotional support. I decided to focus on business rather than craft and learn how to acquire customers, so I worked on a master’s in marketing and communications and picked up a sales job at a large ISP.