GRANITE FALLS — Aleksander Dimitrov, 18, is a senior at Granite Falls High School.
Question: You want to be an engineer?
Answer: I would like to become a computer software engineer. I’ve always really enjoyed working with computers and robotics. I’ve done robotics since middle school … It’s really interesting to experiment with different components and realize different solutions to problems.
Q: Any big goals?
A: I definitely want to go to college. I’m looking at UW, I’ve been accepted to Wazzu (WSU), and I’ve applied to Princeton and a couple of others.
Q: What do you do for fun?
A: I like to read, ride my bike. I like to be active, run, and I do aikido as well. I have a very good sensei, and I’m learning a lot about different languages as well.
Q: What is your favorite book?
A: “Ender’s Game.” I just like the whole genre of science fiction. It’s intriguing how there are so many possibilities out there.
Q: Do you have any siblings?
A: I have one sibling. Her name is Ariana Dimitrova and she is 12.
Q: Is that enough of an age gap to get along?
A: We have been getting more and more along as time goes by.
Q: What other goals do you have for life and college?
A: I would like to learn as much about different cultures as I possibly can. For me, that started with language. I’m studying Spanish 4, and I have learned Bulgarian from my parents, and I’m also learning some Japanese from my aikido place.
Q: And you do Eco Car? (A program where students build an extremely fuel efficient vehicle for competition.)
A: I have been managing the team and with that we’ve been overcoming a lot of different problems and basically every time there’s something new, we research it and see what we can do and come up with a team.
Q: What would be your dream job?
A: Working with computers and analyzing different software and how to create something new and efficient. I also like to make video games.
Q: What do you do with video games?
A: The whole game, from the start, how the story can be original or a twist on something somebody else has made.
Q: What kinds of storylines?
A: I really like adventure stories and how a lot of unique theories that people have come up with really inspire me to come up with something new.
Q: What challenges have you faced in life?
A: I have had my grandparents living in Bulgaria for all their life and I came to America with my parents. Except for when I visit, we’ve been apart.
Q: How do you stay in touch?
A: We use Skype.
Q: What is your grandparents’ sense of Granite Falls?
A: They haven’t visited many times. Their feeling, I’m sure, is that there’s a lot of tightness of community and they share that there but … they do have a lot of distance between here and there.
Q: What advice would you give yourself when you were in eighth grade?
A: I would tell myself to study more ahead of time and not procrastinate. I’d also tell myself to be passionate about what I’m learning about … because later on different pathways will open up. The closer you feel to a subject, the better it will be later for opportunities.
Q: Do you have a favorite teacher?
A: I like all my teachers. My favorite teacher is Mr. (Mark) Neuman. He teaches math. I really like that he always goes through his problems and shows all the different aspects.
Q: Do you like to build stuff?
A: It started with Legos, and it goes up to robotics.
Q: Who are you today?
A: I’m a very accepting person and like to work with others and try to find an elevated sense of myself for a common goal with other people.
Rikki King: 425-339-3449; rking@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @rikkiking.
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