One of the things I will miss most about Pavlo is his incredible intelligence. With  words and a simple diagram he was able to explain difficult physical concepts that our teacher was unable to elucidate. I am going to miss never ending meals, the midnight nalgene’s of chocolate milk, and the runs down the ski slope. Even though it was unlikely that he would be able to play in a game, he was very dedicated. He was in the weight room more than many members of the team and sold all his raffle tickets when others didn’t. His outlook on life is one that all of us can aspire to achieve–to do the most with everything that we are given.

I had the pleasure of getting to know Pavlo at Middlebury this year through rugby. His conviction, persistence and enjoyment for life were tremendous, and I know his energy and dedication was radiated to all those that had the honor to play with him. I will also never forget when we hiked to the top of Mount Washington and skied down Tuckerman’s Ravine. We had been talking about skiing it all winter. If it hadn’t been for Pavlo we would have surely pushed it off till next year because we felt like we had too much work to do. I was on my way to tell him we weren’t going to be able to go that weekend, and I saw his backpack and skis in the hall, ready for adventure. It didn’t take long for me and the others to change our minds and just do it. We had a blast camping in the parking lot and hiking up in the morning. The hike was difficult for all of us and the way down treacherous. There were times when I know it was tough for Pavlo, very tough. But he would just say, I just need to practice more. I’ll get better. There were never any excuses for Pavlo, only the opportunity to improve and live. He conquered that mountain, and had the time of his life. At the end we all shared handshakes and big grins. I know that his last time skiing was epic.

“There is no end. There is no beginning. There is only the passion of life.”
Fellini.

I have never witnessed someone with much courage on a day basis than Pavlo. Nothing was ever easy for him, with the exception of academics it seemed, but he never showed any signs of relent. All I ever saw was the smile and the laugh that we grew to love, and the determination to succeed. Rugby was not a sport designed for someone like Pavlo, but his progress was truly inspiring to the whole team. I remember our old coach Ward telling me about the multiple emails he got from Pavlo daily begging him to put him on the filed. He came to represent everything great about our team. The impression he made to me, the Middlebury college rugby team, and the Middlebury community will be present for a long time to come.

My name is Roger Perreault ’09, and I am a rising senior at Middlebury. I would like to briefly share my fond memories of “Pav”, whom I first met as a fellow physics student. More than anything, Pavlo’s gregariousness stood out to me. His friendliness extended beyond even his close friends, allowing him to unite people of very different backgrounds in laughter and mutual respect. He could in the space of a few minutes demonstrate both a carefree ability and a full concentration on the mathematics he was working with to solve a physics problem. I will not soon forget his kindness and ready laugh. Thank you for brightening my time in Middlebury, Pavlo.

Pavlo stands among the most fearless people I’ve ever met and he had the good humor to put up with a novice practicing Russian. I will miss him very much.

 http://mluby.blogspot.com/2008/08/pavlo-levkiv.html

I was in three Physics classes with Pavlo at Middlebury; 201 Relativity in the fall term and 202 Quantum Mechanics and 212 Applied Math in the spring term. For the longest time I was sure he was a sophomore or upperclassmen since he was doing so well in those difficult classes, but he was actually class of 2011, a first-year. Pavlo was brilliant at Physics, and modest about it too–On a weekly basis the physics students would be holed up in Bi Hall’s fifth floor study room working frantically on a problem set as the deadline approached, and Pavlo would be there, patiently advising someone on how to approach a particularly difficult problem. He was very good at giving concise, clear explanations, but they were always general–he never just gave out the solutions. They say the best way to find out what you know is to try to teach it to someone else, and by that measure Pavlo thoroughly understood Physics.

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