Maria Kuroshchepova BS and MS in Mechanical Engineering, CAPM, Green Belt

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Personal Development Expert

Maria Kuroshchepova Quick Facts

Main Areas: personal development, time management, creative writing, fashion and style
Best Sellers: Stories for Anastasia
Career Focus: Analyst, author, photographer, artist
Affiliation: PMI Certified Associate Project Manager, Nihon Goshin Aikido Association - I-Kyu (brown belt, student instructor)

I am a first-generation Russian-Ukrainian immigrant. I was born and
raised in Zaporozhye, Ukraine and came to the United States as an
impressionable 19-year-old exchange student in 1994. I earned my
Bachelors and Masters degrees in Mechanical Engineering at Rochester
Institute of Technology (Rochester, NY). I now live in Kings Mountain,
NC with my husband Gerry and our pets. My husband and I both attend Aikido Academy of Self Defense in Spartanburg, SC (a part of the school network of the Nihon Goshin Aikido Association).

I work full time as a change analyst for Bank of America, specializing in project management and administration, data gathering and analysis, systems integration and user-acceptance testing as well as associate mentoring and education.

Having come from a long line of storytellers I couldn't help but
start writing. I published my first book Stories for Anastasia on
Lulu.com in July, 2006. My Lulu.com storefront had since expanded to include two more original works of my own, translations of less-known works of Russian and Soviet literature into English as well as a few selections from my photography portfolio. The rest of my photography is available for digital download at 123RF.

In addition, I have published nearly a hundred articles on a variety of subjects including self-reliance, style, politics, economy and literature (my primary article collection is available at Helium.com).

I am a member of the local chapter of the Southern Arts Society, Inc. and own an on-line store Pyrography M that offers unique original works of decorative woodburning, jewelry and colored glass.

Favorite Quotes & Thoughts from Maria Kuroshchepova

"I will know I am slowing down and developing a
healthy relatioship with time when I can truly experience a moment of
quiet pleasure, and not have it have to be an intense moment of
positivity or negativity in order to feel alive." Women Who Do Too Much Calendar - 2003

"Looking good will not obscure your personality - that is a fallacy
spread by people who are too scared or too lazy to make an effort at
looking good. On the contrary, if you learn how to look good while
remaining comfortable, your best personality traits will truly shine -
your outer and inner beauty will work in tandem and enhance each other.
Your very lifestyle will improve, as you stop depriving yourself - and
people who care about you - of the joy that special occasions can be." Tips on dressing for special occasions

"...just because there are bits and pieces of [your life] that stink, doesn't
mean that (a) it HAS to be that way and (b) that you don't deserve any
better. It all depends on you. Respect yourself and tell yourself that
you deserve better and then go do something about it - you can, if you
want it badly enough." Evaluating what we deserve

"I always joke that Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is a trashcan
of mental illnesses. It combines nine symptoms from some of the more
prominent mental disorders: a little bit of bi-polar, a little bit of
clinical depression, a little bit of social anxiety disorder, a little
bit of ADD - but none of the symptoms are pronounced enough for a BPD
patient to be diagnosed with any one of those illnesses. So, at some
point mental health specialists must have gotten together and decided, 'Well, let's just pile them all into this one group and call this weird
mental illness symptom combo thingie Borderline Personality Disorder.
Doesn't that sound cool?!'." Living with Borderline Personality Disorder

Getting Started With Maria Kuroshchepova

It is all here, my friends! Hyperlinks from this page will take you to my books, articles, photography and artwork - and those sites are interconnected as well.

I have always loved writing letters - long, frank, extensively detailed ones. So, I treat my articles as letters to the rest of the world and encourage my readers to treat them the same way - as if they previously asked me a question about something, and I am now answering it.

If we extrapolate the concept somewhat, one could say that my books are journals for those who like to read, my photographs are journals for those who prefer images to text, my translations are gateways to other people's letters and journals, and my artwork - a kind of three-dimensional mood diary. Pick your favorite perception channel and enjoy!