Who he is…
Maksym Gerasimov, an international student from Ukraine and president of the National Society of Leadership and Success at Sinclair Community College, who has a passion for helping others.
Why he’s interesting…
Gerasimov came to the United States to study abroad after realizing that his previous intention to serve in the military in his country was not something he wanted to do.
Gerasimov researched many options before he chose what college he wanted to go to.
“I spent literally one to two and a half months browsing through every college website and found some amazing colleges,” he said. “But I didn’t know how to apply or what I was looking for — I didn’t even know my major.”
During his senior year in high school, he was able to complete all the paperwork required and received his visa. Soon after, he came to Boston, Mass., following his high school graduation.
“I started my journey in Boston where I went to the international school of English [called] Education First,” he said.
In Boston, Gerasimov lived in a dormitory that housed about 300 international students. There he was able to learn about different cultures and meet people from all over the world.
One night at three in the morning, Gerasimov got unfortunate news from his father through a skype call that would change the course of his college experience.
“He delivered me very not pleasant news that the company he worked for got embezzled by its own employees,” he said. “Consequently my family really got a huge hit out of it, because almost all of our money was invested in this company.”
It was then that he was faced with two options: he could go back to Ukraine, which he did not want to do, or he could find a college that would accept him so he could get a degree based on the amount of money that he was left with.
He started his search with community colleges and knew that it would be advisable to know his major in advance so he did not waste any extra money.
“I figured out that I liked architecture and design and picked five different community colleges I wanted to attend,” he said. “One in Nebraska, Alabama, Wyoming, Oklahoma and Ohio.”
Gerasimov said that he wanted to pick a college that was close to downtown, and after looking into it, he decided on Sinclair and found a furnished apartment in East Dayton.
“If I would have stayed in my country I would not be as open-minded as I am right now,” Gerasimov said. “I would not have met many incredible people that contributed to my development as a person, as a human being and overall.”
After class one night, Gerasimov encountered something that would change his perception of the world and what he wanted to do with his life.
“An African American man got stabbed and I saw that happen,” he said
Gerasimov said that out of all the people standing around, only a few stopped to help the man in need.
“I don’t even know how it happened, but I got in there, I pressed on his wound [to stop the bleeding],” he said. “I was not scared or anything; I just went out there, I felt like it was something that I just had to do.”
One of the things that struck Gerasimov the most was when the ambulance came, it seemed to him like they were not concerned with helping the man right away.
“It seemed really weird to me that no one acted like they really wanted to help him,” he said.
After the incident, Gerasimov talked to a few of his friends who explained that if they thought the victim was a gang member, they would not help him in fear of getting involved in gang-related problems.
“What bothered me the most is that people were valuing their own safety over someone else’s life,” he said. “I could not believe that people would not help someone only because of the color of their skin.”
Because of the event, Gerasimov said he knew that things had to change and that he wanted to leave a positive imprint on those around him.
“I am passionate about helping people,” he said. “I know it may sound cliché, but I want to make this world a slightly better place because I have had experience — basically as Ghandi said, ‘be the change that you wish to see in others.’”