Me in front of a Viggen plane in Sweden a week before the program started.
Hi! My name is Maximillian Knyazev-Julinski and I am someone who comes from a unique background, not really coming from a single place, nor living in one long enough to call home. I was worldschooled and taken on trips across the world while growing up. I got to see what life was like for people who looked vastly different from me and spoke languages I did not understand. I would live in foreign lands, some that were hospitable metropolises like Mexico City or London, while others were vast lands of beauty with challenging living conditions like Labrador. The one thing all my travels taught me was how special the world is and that despite us being so different, we really are more similar than we realize.
I chose Rice because I had been running a bike company and wanted to attend a school that had a big focus on entrepreneurship and had support networks that would help entrepreneurs like me succeed. I am combining my passion for bikes with business so I can arm myself with knowledge that I can utilize and continue my start-up journey.
Biking is something that I have always done and if given the opportunity I will take off in the blink of an eye and ride with no purpose for hours on end. My passion is very contagious: in my first semester at Rice I became the Brown College cycling captain and completely revamped the team, raising a record amount of money and purchasing brand new bikes and equipment for the whole team. I really wanted to study abroad since I truly love traveling and meeting new people, and getting to spend two weeks in the bike capital of the world (Amsterdam) is a dream come true for me since I can do a deep dive into the world I love.
The program is unique in that it is a mix of structured class-time with interesting lectures and a slew of activities that allow you to connect with the city and the design thinking process. We partner up with University of Amsterdam students and work together on various problems challenging the city. My group is working on improving the public transport experience for tourists visiting the city, something I have lots of knowledge own having visited Amsterdam six times already. My classmates are very nice, but also reserved as is traditional for Dutch culture. They prefer to get to know you before opening up, so I will take things slowly, although I have already gotten recommendations from them on places to visit while in Amsterdam. The Rice group is also incredible and we have already taken a wine & cheese canal tour which is one item of the bucket list. The next is to tour the city via bike…
The Rice group in Amsterdam!