Anastasia Pokholok was born in 1989 in Moscow, Russia. She lived there with her parents, Dmitry Pokholok and Elena Izmailova until the age of 8, at which point they moved to the United States to Richmond, Virginia. A year and a half after moving to the States, they moved to Massachusetts; and, after living in several different places, relocated to West Roxbury and she entered the Latin School in the 9th grade.
When Anastasia moved to the States, she picked up English very quickly, in less than a year and from that point on grew up bilingual. This sparked her interest for languages and different cultures. She has since traveled extensively and learned Spanish and German and is currently studying French.
From a very young age Anastasia learned the importance of public service. Growing up in post-soviet Russia showed her the realities of life at an early age and made her appreciate the freedom and opportunity that this country has to offer. Although her many members of her family held prominent positions during the soviet regime, they always told her how important it is to have the freedom to make ones own decisions and do everything in one’s power to make sure everyone has that same opportunity.
As a result of seeing a broken country, Anastasia was inspired to take action and help better her environment and the lives of those around her, no matter how small the changes were that she was able to make. She became an American citizen during her senior year of high school and was determined to use her rights to the fullest and perform her civic duty.
During her four years at the Latin School, Anastasia was highly involved in school activities. She was a member of the Girls Varsity Crew Team, a member and later co-president of the Flute Ensemble, a member of the Senior Band and a tutor for the Saturday Success School.
Throughout her life, Anastasia has been inspired by the struggles, spirit and hard work of her parents who came to this country with nothing and who were able to create a comfortable life not only for themselves but also for her. Her mother has always inspired her to be a hard worker and always push to get what she wants. Her dad has inspired her to be a moral and honest person and taught her to never have regrets about her life. Unfortunately, Anastasia’s parents got divorced during her senior year of high school which was very difficult for her and her whole family but in the end taught her some very important life lessons and made her a stronger person.
In the fall of 2007, Anastasia will be enrolling as a freshman at McGill University in the Faculty of Management in Montreal, Canada. She plans to major in finance and minor in Russian and political science. This summer she is working in the Office of Attorney General Martha Coakley.