Hello

Hello, my name is Vesko, and I am a mosaic of experiences.

To imagine me, think of a hacker, a journalist, an entrepreneur, a dreamer, a challenger, an adventurer, a designer of experiences and a puzzles nut.

After 5 years in Chicago, two winters in Washington D.C. @PostGraphics, an autumn in Singapore @NUSingapore and a childhood in Bulgaria, I am presently based in Scotland, which has become a home, filled with the necessary secrets to propel the curiosity of an engineer and inspire the craft of an artist.

I try to make sense of the world with letters and numbers. I look for simplicity. I insist on beauty. I believe in emotions. I think they are part of the key to bring positive change to society.

I grew up a happy kid in a coastal city. The shores of the Black Sea, Burgas and Bulgaria are a home. It is a home of loving parents who cultured my two sisters and myself to be strong individuals, opposites of different shapes that click like a jigsaw puzzle.

The pressure-cooker of an American college @NorthwesternU tested me in ways I did not see coming. It gave me a glimpse to what it means to loose yourself to find yourself.

Programming gives me freedom @GitHub, a way to capture purpose concisely, and define certainty in an uncertain world. Writing and photography @Flickr give me an excuse to talk to strangers, ask questions and know places and minds which ordinarily one would not access.

I swim, run, play tennis @meadows_tennis_ and occasionally dance. In my teen years, I made two documentaries #CloudsFlyWest, which won a few awards. I continue to cherish a good movie, a thought-provoking conversation, The @NewYorker and @NatGeoMag.

As I pursue the courage to be myself, I am getting reacquainted with my storytelling roots and returning to a few entrepreneurial ideas which I have dreamed for close to a decade.

If the past is any predictor for the future, I will take the road less traveled. Maybe see you there. If you see me, give me a high-five, a fist-bump or a chest-thump.

Yours,


October 2018

Education

The University of Edinburgh
MSc, Artificial Intelligence, 2017 – 2018

Northwestern University
BSJ, Journalism, Computer Science, 2011 – 2015

Obreshkov Math & Science High School
Math and English, 2004 – 2011

People who inspire me

Fighting for what is right Brent E. Huffman @brent_huffman and Nicholas Kristof @NickKristofwriting Jorge Luis Borges and Gabriel García Márquez, illustrations Richard Johson @newsillustrator and Efraín Malo @maloartentrepreneurship David Heyman, Demis Hassabis @demishassabis, Walt Disney, storytelling Agatha Christie, Tom Rob Smith @tomrobsmith, Dan Brown @AuthorDanBrown, greatness of thought Noam Chomsky, Gary Saul Morson, Steven Pinker @sapinker, Fareed Zakaria @FareedZakaria, unchained spirit Zaha Hadid @ZHA_News and Bear Grylls @BearGryllssportsmanship Roger Federer @rogerfederermachine learning my former boss Anand Rao @anandsrao, my university teacher Iain Murray @driainmurrayfilmmaking Tim Burton, Wes Anderson, Roman Polanski and Damien Chazelle, and positive role in society Bill Gates @BillGates, Oprah @Oprah, Princess Diana, Bill Nye @BillNye.

Movies I still think about

Gosford Park, Toni Erdmann, Philomena, Philadelphia, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Eyes Wide Shut, Devil Wears Prada, Chinatown