Meet our 2016-2017 Sophomore Class
Name: Maxim Belov
Since you’ve moved to Austin, what is your favorite thing to do around town/campus?
I moved to Austin in 2006, so I’ve been all over the place. The top contenders are Spiderhouse, Lake Travis and Austin, Austin Paintball, and my bed. It might go without saying that I like outdoors-y activities.
What class has been your favorite this semester?
There were a few complications caused by my transfer, so I’ve been obligated to knock out a few more core classes, which makes this an easy question to answer: Building Better Cities (GRG 302P) with Dr. Swearingen. The class is absolutely fascinating. It involves infrastructure, ecology, the equity behind resource management, and economics, all of which are some of my favorite topics (I accept I’m not the most fun person in the room at parties).
If you could work for the government for a week, what would you want to do?
Given that I can only have a week, I would do exactly what Gallup on September 7, 2016 said 80% of Americans expect me to do: nothing meaningful. However, that doesn’t mean I can’t live up to the expectations of the American people while still acting in my own personal best interest. I would follow the Ted Cruz model for making myself a noteworthy politician and becoming a presidential hopeful; I would filibuster the Senate. It’s just so genius. Most of the senators would tune me out and my efforts wouldn’t change the course of whatever piece of legislation is on the table, but the media would eat that right up. After getting my name out there, I could leave at the end of the week and begin my campaign for real.
What has been your favorite tournament so far?
While I hate long drives, Kansas State was by far my favorite. I mostly went to peeve my brother-in-law – who attended K-State and claims burnt orange is an ugly color – but found the setting lent itself to more opportunities to spend time with my teammates while still being a challenging tournament. Overall, it was a ton of fun and the campus looked really cool. Will I still tell him Kansas is boring? Yes. Will I be lying about that? Yes.
Are you planning on doing anything exciting for Halloween?
I never celebrated Halloween growing up, and will be competing in Tulsa, OK. Arel tells me it’s a just a dandy place, so I’m looking forward to it. Now that I think about it, that sounds so anti-climactic… Oh well. Texas Fight!