becoming ARTPOP

“When I was born, my name was Artur Veligurskiy,” says my friend sitting across from me, gesturing briefly towards himself. His short blonde hair is curly when it grows out and his entire iTunes playlist is 90% electronic dance music. At any given time he wears either a huge smile or a neutral facial expression. At 6’3”, he towers over most of the people he meets – one year I discovered he was about as tall as a Christmas tree. “But when I came here, it was changed to Arthur to sound more American.”

“…can you pose?”

Born in 1995 in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Arthur didn’t even know he was technically an immigrant until he was out of diapers and taking the bus to school on his own. He immigrated before he was even two years old, and while the move was big for the handful of family that came along, it doesn’t seem it had much of an effect on him. “I lived with my mom, dad, and my grandparents from my dad’s side in a house for the first year until everyone could support themselves. Afterwards, my grandmother took care of me because both of my parents had to work and go to school. Overall, I had a good childhood.”

The reason for the move? “A lot of religious tension in Kharkiv. My parents said it wasn’t a good environment to raise me in.” His grandmother was a practicing Jew, but in the Ukraine she had to pretend to be a Christian just to avoid conflict. “And of course, there were better opportunities in America, and my parents were young.”

Growing up in the States didn’t mean Arthur found himself separated from his native culture. While he watches fireworks on the Fourth of July and we exchange gifts for Christmas, him and his family still observe cultural holidays and eat Ukrainian food. “For Easter we eat this traditional cake called a paska which is basically a pannetone with icing and sprinkles. And we have a New Year which is our Christmas.” He paused for a moment then added. “And we eat matzah.”

I then moved on the main question – I asked him about his goals. “At the moment I want a job. I’ve never had one before. And I want to start saving money so when I get older I can buy myself a home or maybe something big someday.” I gave a short nod, prompting him to say more, and he took a moment to think. “I’m in college now, so I want to get an Associates degree and then graduate with a Bachelors degree in Psychology. Then I want to start my career.”

“…can you smile?”

I decided to backtrack a bit as I formed my next question. “Where would you want to move to?” Everything he had said so far could certainly be classified as goals, but I found that I had similar things in mind for myself as well. I wanted to know something more personal.

The next question gave me the answer I was looking for. “And how would you define success?”

“Well…finally discovering what I want to do in life. I want to live in an apartment with either a friend or someone a little more special. I think at least everyone wants to travel, and I’m no different. I want to always be active and social and I definitely want to have a dog. And I want a job that I’ll actually enjoy. I don’t want to drag myself out of bed every morning to do something I hate for the rest of my life.” Rather suddenly, he brought up his bucket list, and shared a few items.

“It would be cool to go on a game show. And if someone gave me the chance to skydive, I would do it in a heartbeat. Oh and I wanna go to a TV show screening. Something cool of course, like the Ellen DeGeneres Show. I don’t think SNL is that funny, honestly.” I reminded him that earlier he mentioned traveling. “Top three places to visit,” He held up the appropriate number of fingers. “Bora bora, Venice, and Tokyo. No order – I just want to see them all.”

Arthur leaned back in his chair, and moved his shoulders in a shrug. “That’s all in time, though, and just stuff I think would do if I had the chance. I really just want to do what everyone else wants – go to school, get a job, move out, and be happy. I’m not reaching for the stars.” He corrected himself almost immediately.“Except for Lady Gaga. I’d love to meet her.”

“thanks!”