Mikhail Oparin

In this section I keep personal writing and selected academic work from my undergraduate and graduate studies. I didn’t originally plan to publish most of the essays publicly. They were written to work through questions I couldn’t resolve in any other way. But then I chose to publish them in this blog for friends, family, co-workers, people I know and people I don’t, and anyone who finds their way here.

These posts are the archives of my lived experiences. I write to clarify my own tension, not to persuade someone else. My pieces emerge from moments of personal or observed tension, disagreement, or moral uncertainty. I speak with my heart and pose a question in hopes to find commonality between the writer (me) and the reader (you).

Themes

The writing collected here spans across several overlapping areas:

• Community, Equity & Institutions – Reflections on institutions, systems, and public life, explore fairness, power, trust, through the lens of communication, and what happens when those institutions include some people while failing others.
• Creative Work – Creative projects and process notes. Visual pieces, experiments, and reflections on making, meaning, and design as a way of thinking.
• Family, Faith, Identity, Belonging – Personal essays about love, family ties, belief, and the cost of belonging. I write about identity, boundaries, and what it takes to stay connected without losing yourself.
• Media, Culture & Narrative – Reviews and cultural essays about films, books, and public storytelling. I look at how narratives shape opinion, behavior, and what a society learns to excuse.
• Postcards and Observations – Short essays from everyday life. These posts capture small discoveries, holiday notes, fun facts, and moments that made me pause, smile, or think twice.

Some essays are analytical, others offer a narrative. All are written with attention to the space between writer and reader.

My Intent

I do not write to provoke, shock, or win argument. I write to understand what happened, what it means, and what is the right thing to do. Sometimes that includes discomfort. Sometimes it includes tenderness. But by no means do I try to sound vulnerable because my intent is intellectual and emotional honesty, not personal oversharing.

How to Read

You do not need to read these pieces in order.

Some essays stand alone. Others are a part of longer themes and threads developed over time. You are welcome to follow what resonates, pause when needed, and return later.

These sections are meant to be read slowly. Thank you for reading with care.

This page highlights selected projects developed across community engagement, advocacy, publishing, and independent initiative. Some projects are collaborative. Others are self-directed and personal. All of them reflect how I approach communication as a practice grounded in responsibility, care, and long-term results.

I do not treat projects as accomplishments to display. I treat them as contexts for decision. What matters most is not what was produced, but how choices were made, who was considered, and what the work was designed to protect.

How I Approach Project Work

My projects are strategic communication ideas that span across various social environments. My work work tends to share a few core principles:

• Clarity before scale – communication should be understood before it is amplified
• Ethics as practice – values are embedded in process, not added afterward
• Human-centered systems – tools and messages should support real people in real conditions
• Continuity over novelty – durable work matters more than performative innovation

Each project included here reflects these principles in different ways.

Selected Projects

Embrace the Spectrum: Queer Awareness & Visibility

A community-centered communication initiative developed in collaboration with members of the Evergreen Public Schools Equity Advisory Committee. This project was designed to normalize LGBTQ+ visibility through consistent messaging, calendar-based awareness, and educational framing that supports students, families, and staff.

View project →

Always With Hope: Memoir Publishing & Companion Website

A legacy publishing project centered on editing, preparing, and releasing Always With Hope, a memoir written by my mother, Lyudmila Oparina. The project also included the development of a companion website to support the book and preserve family narrative.

This work required sustained editorial judgment, design decisions, and ethical care, particularly around memory, voice, and truth.

Explore the project →

Vancouver Arts LIVE: Community Visibility & Cultural Engagement

An undergraduate capstone project focused on increasing visibility for local arts and cultural events through digital media and community-oriented communication strategies. The project explored how platforms can be designed to elevate participation to bridge the generational gap and foster a sense of belonging.

This work represents an early exploration of themes that continue to shape my practice: access, representation, and public narrative.

Read more →

Foster Washington: Awareness & Social Marketing Concept

A strategic communication concept developed to raise public awareness around foster care in Washington State. The project emphasized education over persuasion, aiming to support understanding of foster care system and lived realities of children and families involved in the foster system.

The work focused on ethical framing, empathy, and responsible messaging.

View concept →

On Scope and Selection

The projects presented here are selective by design. They reflect work that can be shared publicly and that aligns with the broader themes explored throughout this site. Other professional and operational work exists, but is not presented here when it is better suited for internal or contextual use.

Invitation

If you are reading this as a collaborator, community partner, or professional peer, I invite you to open any project and look closely at the process. The way a project is shaped often matters more than the artifact it produces.

Projects are not endpoints. They are points of learning. This page will continue to evolve as new work is published.