COMMUNITY
A Private School Quality Education Tuition Free
When did you move here?
I came here from Ukraine when I was little. I came to New York when I was 6, and I still have a ton of family there. I lived in New York until I was in my teens, then Arizona ended up being my home post-high school. You were way too young to make the decision to move here on your own. What led your family to the U.S.? In that space, especially around the time that we moved, there was a lot of scarcity. My mom describes the sheer shock when we first got here of how much food we have in grocery stores because back then food was not as frequent as it is now. Back then it was pretty bad. My mom wanted to make sure her children had a better future and had more opportunities in general, and it’s definitely shown through me and my brother. I work on art through murals and pieces, but I also work a corporate America job, too.
Mobile Elementary Offers
Class sizes of 15 students or less
Bus service in Maricopa
4 day schedule in 2025-2026
VERONIKA LESHCHINSKAYA PAINTER AND PRODUCT MANAGER SENITA KONOPE, UKRAINE
Is your art a side hustle or a hobby?
I would say it’s more like a retire- ment plan. I think it’s slowly becoming bigger. Within the last year, I would say it’s becoming more and more of an actual structured business — that’s something I did not expect. It became a second job, essentially, and I love it. What’s your long-term goal? I really hope that, in my future, I can focus solely on art. Many of my recent murals have been for schools, and that’s inspired me to start incorpo- rating after-school programs or clubs for kids. I want to give young people a space to create — to make art feel supportive, not competitive, the way it often did when I was in high school.
Visit us at MobileESD.org
.
42798 S. 99th Ave (520) 568-2280
InMaricopa.com | November 2025
November 2025 | InMaricopa.com
18
19
Powered by FlippingBook