Alumni Update: Nicaragua


Maxim Antonio Castañeda Sokolov (Nicaragua), Global UGRAD 2012 – 2013

I came back from the U.S. 4 years ago already. Back in those days, I was studying at the University of Utah in my senior year. Now, despite the fact that I am a young adult with bills, a regular job, responsibilities, and family matters, I try to keep working on new projects, exploring new places, and learning from new cultures as I did when living in the U.S.

Since my return, I have been actively working in the Nicaraguan energy sector, improving national energy projects from a financial perspective and forecasting the national electricity demand in order to improve the national energy supply expansion plan. As an economist, I would have never thought that I would work in this field, but so far it has been an interesting journey. I have had the chance to work with the International Atomic Energy Agency and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs in different workshops that have helped us to improve our planning skills as specialists.

My job has also taken me to expand my cultural understanding by visiting countries like Austria and Peru, working with worldwide energy specialists. Also, my interest in Russian culture led me to participate at the World Forum of Young Russians in Bulgaria in 2015. Russian culture is part of my heritage from my mother’s side, and I really appreciated having the chance to share some time with the worldwide Russian youth.

For this year, I am looking forward to getting a scholarship to study abroad and get my Master’s degree, which is part of my personal project to acquire the needed knowledge to open my own business, combining finance, digital marketing, and business administration. I want to start an enterprise that will allow me to open the Nicaraguan touristic sector to the world, promoting and informing foreigners about the cultural and natural wealth of my country, motivating them to visit us and invest in Nicaragua.

I hope to succeed in my projects and soon share with you the results of my efforts in a new article, but for now I just want to thank you for reading. Once I read a phrase from the American businessman Walt Disney which I really liked: “We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we’re curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.” But personally, I just want to emphasize this: that no matter whether your plans are going as expected or not, just “keep moving forward.”


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