A love for the violin transported Grossman senior Georgii Apinian ’25 from Russia to New York City.

There, the Finance major rode out the pandemic at a small music conservatory, and the last of his high school days. After settling in, his thoughts turned to college.

Georgii frequented Vermont during childhood vacations – his stepfather's love for sports and the outdoors prompting some of these excursions north.

Georgii felt conflicted between his passion for music, writing – and a burgeoning interest in business. 

After some soul searching, he decided on business school.

HIS UVM JOURNEY

For Georgii, there was only ever UVM.

“I was looking for a university not that far away from New York City," he tells me, "where my family lives, that has a business school.”

After learning about what UVM could offer, Georgii was heartened. One campus visit later and he knew he'd found his next home.

“I was really, really impressed and amazed by the campus.”

A nationally-ranked business program, close to family, with the natural beauty Vermont offers? Georgii was sold. 

“I really felt like this major would give me the most freedom of choice in terms of my future in the industry and where I want to where I want to end up being at. That kind of motivated me to choose business.”

Thanks to scholarship support, Georgii unlocked an opportunity to pursue his education at the Grossman School of Business. It allowed him the flexibility he was looking for, as well as the sense of community. But he wasn’t sure in what specific direction to take his degree at UVM.

Getting a new start at a university across the world was challenging at first.

One fortuitous day, Georgii overheard Ukrainian faculty member Dr. Andrey Ukhov speaking in Russian outside his office. “I missed my native language,” he shares. “I had to talk to him.”

Thus began a mentorship valuable to Georgii – one that helped him bridge his life in Russia with his flourishing identity as a business major. The two began meeting regularly to discuss Georgii's future and passions, alongside other more global and intellectual matters.

These conversations had a major impact on Georgii, who then went onto declare a concentration in Finance.

"In private equity," he reflects,"I see that I can do so many things. I can gain so much knowledge, and I can live and work for decades and decades -- and every single year, learn something new. And that is, for me, a great attraction of the industry." 

FINDING HIS WAY

Georgii exemplifies the culture of excellence, service, and hard work fostered by UVM.

Throughout his second semester at UVM, Georgii made use of Dr. Ukhov’s office hours, and planned around a study abroad program his junior year at the ICN Business School in Nancy, France. Through close guidance and tenacity, Georgii orchestrated his major credits and schedule so as to graduate on time. 

“UVM faculty is one of the biggest reasons -- I mean, not the only big reason, but one of the biggest reasons -- I love this place. I'm very, very fortunate to be here.”

Dr. Rocki-Lee DeWitt also made an impact on Georgii, with her analytical and case-based approach to financial, strategic, and consumer-related issues across industries. He did so well in the class, he became her TA sophomore year.

Now the President of the Finance and Investment Club, Georgii has also made the Dean’s List every semester – while working as a Junior Analyst at a private equity firm. He felt even more prepared for this real-world experience through a Financial Management class and Wall Street seminar with Dr. Andrew Prevost.

Georgii’s vigor mirrors that of our community of successful alumni, as well as donors who believe in empowering the next generation of business leaders.

"I wouldn't be who I am," Georgii reflects "without [Professor Ukhov]."

As Georgii approaches graduation, his confidence and resilience are what have made him so successful. Our faculty helps grow and nurture these traits in all our students, so that they can enter their future careers ready and able to make a difference.

We are excited to see what the future holds for Georgii.

FEATURING YOU

Do you have an interesting Catamount story? We'd love to share it with the world.

Get in touch by emailing Lisa at Lisa.Wartenberg-Velez@uvm.edu.

To support the Grossman School of Business, please reach out to Maria at Maria.Cunningham@uvm.edu or visit this page to make a gift.