When most people think of Nikolai Ivanov, they think of a fun guy. But he’s actually a dedicated man who’s very supportive of his hearing-disabled twins with anything they need.

Whether Ivanov is busy with taking his two kids to places they need to go to like hearing aid/cochlear implant appointments, making calls that might help the twins have more opportunities like with financial needs or something similar, or even just tired from a long day of work but doing something he feels that he needs to do- he is still working the best he can to get the most out of everything he does.

Ivanov said, “Even before I had my own family, I was still working hard. And now, I am still putting all of my effort to help my children and whole family to get them where they need to be.”

Ivanov is one of the permanent workers at Automated Packaging Systems, making different types of plastic bags for large companies like Nokia and L’Oreal. He said of his job, “Even though it’s not the best in the world, it helps us pay the bills and other things we need. And along with the schedule I have now, it makes it a lot easier to see the twins more and just spend time with them.”

Ivanov spends as much time as he can to help benefit the lives of his two hearing-disabled twins– if it’s to do with somehow paying for their processors which cost over $20,000 a pair, making sure they’re doing well in their classes in school by helping them with schoolwork and advising them, or even just spending time with them because that is what he feels is most important- being there for them when they need him.

He said, “If I had went to school here in the United States, I would probably have a better job and that’s what I’m trying to teach my kids- be good in school because it’ll pay off in the future. And if you know your true potential and work to it, it will all be worth it in the end.”

His wife, Maia Avramova, who met him at the Technical University, Sofia, when they were in their very early 20’s, has said of her husband’s work ethic, “Even when we were still students in university, he worked extremely tough. But after the kids were born, he worked even more excessively to be able to provide them the best possible future so they’ll be able to succeed. And if we didn’t have him to be able to do all of the things he does for us, we wouldn’t have as good of a life as we do now.”

In terms of the impingement of his allegiance, Avramova has said, “He has impacted the family greatly, as he helps provide for anything we need, and it also makes me feel more secure, like we don’t have to worry if I lost my job or something like that.”

Ivanov’s mother, Zdravka Ivanova, lives in Bulgaria and raised her son there. Ivanova said, “He is very responsible and hardworking, and is the smartest person I know. And he is doing the best he can for his family which makes me very, very proud of him- I don’t know what I would do without him.”

Ivanov has helped pay for things his parents need, like buying an air conditioner unit for their apartment in downtown Kyustendil, and has even helped pay for Ivanova’s expensive hospital costs as she had just been recently diagnosed with colon cancer. He has also went back to Bulgaria with his daughter this summer to go see his parents and his older brother, Plamen.

Ivanova said, “It is just amazing of what he is doing for his family. I’m so happy he went to America to be able to get a better life for himself and Maia, and now the twins. It just makes me so happy that he is able to provide them a better life than his father and I were able to for him and his brother.”

At the end of the day, Ivanov hopes that people with disabilities and even people in general that are maybe struggling in the world to know it’ll be fine soon. Ivanov said, “Put in all of your effort to help your family because later on, it will all make up for it, always follow your dreams because anything is possible when you work hard for them, and if you just go with the flow on some things, it will eventually turn out to be okay.”