AUBG Daily Senior Blitz Vol.2




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  • 2018-05-07 20:57:01
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  A day into the last finals week for over 200 AUBG graduates, AUBG Daily opens the door to the memories and farewell words of another trio of former owls. Hear from Maria Paskaleva, Dimitar Bratovanov and Mina Dobreva of their pathway from first-day insecurities to post-graduation aspirations. [caption id="attachment_39656" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]Maria Paskaleva; Steliyana Yordanova for AUBG Daily Maria Paskaleva, former editor and beat reporter for AUBG Daily; Steliyana Yordanova for AUBG Daily[/caption] Meet Maria Paskaleva, a student from Ruse, Bulgaria who combines her studies in Journalism and Mass Communication and Political Science and International Relations. Paskaleva is a former event beat reporter and senior editor of AUBG Daily. She has also been a member and a co-head of the Marketing Department at StartUP@Blagoevgrad and again a marketing member at AUBG Olympics in her fourth year at AUBG. Tell us about your best and worse memory of AUBG My best memories are connected to the clubs. Last year when they selected me to be the head of Marketing [at StartUP@Blagoevgrad] and they told me that I was the MVP of the Marketing Department, it was one of the best moments here.  But also this year after the [StartUP] Conference I felt so connected with everyone and I didn’t really want it to end. same goes for Olympics this year, with D-day. For my worst one, I don’t remember which finals week it was but I remember having finished all my finals on the third day. I was so stressed [afterwards] that even though I didn’t have anything more to do, I couldn’t sleep, I couldn’t do anything. I was just staying up all night freaking out for no reason. I was so stressed from everything that my brain couldn’t handle that I was free. What were you before? What are you now? I used to be very shy and very introverted. I think I managed to work on that and became more open and friendlier with people. I think I’m doing a lot better now with my communication with people. If you were 18 years old, what would you do/what would you change? I will try to engage myself in more extracurricular activities both in school and here. In my first year, I didn’t join any clubs and I think that was one of my biggest mistakes. I will also travel more. What word defines you the best? Stubborn. What is the meaning of life to you? Always do what you believe in and what you love. Even if it isn’t now, but in the long-term and it's the right decision, you should do it. You are awesome because… ...of the people who made me who I am today. What is one of your takeaways from AUBG Daily?  This is the first club that I joined and it showed me that I can be a more “people's” person, that I can challenge myself, and even though I’m a shy person, I made myself go out there and do stuff that I wasn’t used to and I wasn’t very comfortable doing. I took an article about sports, about football, and it was very weird, but I managed to do it and I actually liked it. Starting to challenge myself was the biggest takeaway because it also helped me gain the confidence to later join StartUP and then Olympics, which I didn’t really believe in doing in my first year. How do you imagine life after AUBG? I hope it continues to be this fun and maybe be more adventurous. I’ll be staying in Sofia for a year and I’m thinking of doing a Master’s degree after that. I’ve come to like a program in Berlin but I decided that for the first year I want to check better because the program is in marketing and so far I’ve only experienced marketing in the clubs. What would you say to the current and future owls? Always challenge yourself, even if you think something is not for you, just try it. You might not like it but at least you would know that. You might actually find something you are interested in. That’s how I found StartUP. I thought it was just a business club that has nothing to do with me, but I had to cover the StartUP Weekend and I really liked everyone there and I was like “Okay, maybe I might wanna join them.” [caption id="attachment_39657" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]Dimitar Bratovanov; Steliyana Yoradnova for AUBG Daily Dimitar Bratovanov, former newspaper designer, photographer and beat reporter for AUBG Daily; Steliyana Yoradnova for AUBG Daily[/caption] Dimitar Bratovanov is a student from Sevlievo, Bulgaria, majoring in Economics and Business Administration with a concentration in Management. Bratovanov has quite a lot of extracurricular activities to add to his CV. He used to be the designer of Rotaract Blagoevgrad in his first year. The same year he joined StartUP@Blagoevgrad and AUBG Olympics as part of their marketing department teams, proceeding to be the Head of Marketing for the former and the vice president of the latter. He has also been part of BFDC "Samodiva" as an actor and dancer and an intern photojournalist for the AUBG’s Office of Communication and Marketing. In his second year, he became part of AUBG Daily, initially as the designer of “The Griffin News” newspaper, later transitioning towards a photographer and a news reporter. He has also been a player for the AFC Griffins, playing as a safety. Starting his third year, Bratovanov became a Resident Assistant at Skaptopara II. Tell us about your best and your worst memory of AUBG. Best memory of AUBG… It is a combination of many memories with the people that I’ve met here, the people who I may call friends and even family today. A lot of those memories revolve around the end of our clubs’ big events, whether it is StartUP’s end of the conference, whether it is the end of Olympics’ sport events and me being thrown into the river, or the morning when Daily’s paper is being distributed, but having the satisfaction of seeing what you have created with your friends and most of all the smiles on the faces of my friends.  I’m also happy with what they have accomplished and the fact that for some reason I may have been the reason for that smile on those faces. The worst one was [from] my sophomore year, the first time I was overloading. Back then for the same day, I had an exam in Econometrics II, a paper for Business Ethics and marketing poster that I had to create for StartUP which the Admissions office pushed to be created by that specific date. I remember that I had pushed myself so badly. I had done the poster, I had done the essay and I had over-prepared for the exam but I did not sleep. So I went into the final for Econometrics II and the moment I saw the questions I froze because those were the same questions I had studied the night before. But the fact that I froze did not help me out and I submitted a blank sheet of paper, literally. That was my first important exam that I submitted without writing anything. Then I wrote to the professor which led to me dropping out of the course. But I had people supporting me knowing that it was important for me to take the exam. Afterwards, that specific course led to my senior thesis and is helping me right now. I pushed myself and I retook the course again and I finished properly. What were you before? What are you now? The first day I came to AUBG, I don’t deny it, I was weird, even a creepy boy to some extent. I actually had decided to boost my image in the university and gave myself the nickname “the creep” but in a positive way. I was naïve and creepy. However, the university has helped me grow in a way that only a senior can imagine. I am no longer the same boy, as cliché as this may sound. I am more confident in myself, more confident in the things I am doing, I am not afraid to take up the next challenge and face it with a smile on my face. That built my character. If you were 18 years old what would you do/ what would you change? If I was speaking to my 18-year-old self I would tell myself – “Don’t be afraid to be yourself, there will be people who will accept you the way you are – creepy, weird, energetic. Make as many friends as possible because once you are out of here you will be going back to those people. They will become your circle of friends and you will be calling upon to check how they are or they would check on you [asking] how you are. These would be your best buddies, whether they are here in Bulgaria, somewhere in the States, in Europe or Asia.” Just make those friendships and also put the effort into making those friendships last. What word defines you best? Creepy-social-energetic-workaholic. What is the meaning of life to you? The meaning of life to me is having something out there that you feel truly passionate about, that you do not hesitate to make sacrifices [for] in order to create this thing or make it even more beautiful, more perfect. And last but not least, to make the people around you smile with it. You are awesome because… I am awesome because I am your friendly neighborhood creeper who is not out there to scare you or spook you out in the dark but to make you laugh, to make you smile. What is one of your takeaways from AUBG Daily? When I came to AUBG I was one of those people who are afraid to write. In my writing classes [Exposition], my professor John Rodrigue actually sparked that desire to write and write more. Then I was pushed by another professor, Rossen Petkov. He was pushing me to start a journalistic career and work as a journalist but I thought I didn’t have time until I joined Daily. Then as part of Daily, first as a photographer, the greatest thing I got from being part of the team was that I managed to become the teacher and give my knowledge to other people and see the satisfaction of the progress that they have achieved. Truly, the teacher’s job gives you a great level of satisfaction.  The happiness of seeing my ‘students’ smile and then being satisfied with what they have achieved and what they have accomplished. The second one is personal, related to writing. Daily was the organization that pushed me beyond my limits not just in terms of writing style but in terms of quality of writing, writing three articles per week while juggling with my academics. The third one is my memories with the people there the endless nights of working together, the endless nights of having fun, the endless nights of being with my friends and doing something that I am passionate about. How do you imagine life after AUBG? I am gonna be frank - I have no idea what life for me would be after I am out of here, yet I hope that it would remain dynamic as it is here because as an adrenaline junkie, I like the way of life of an AUBGer. I hope that once I am out of here I would find something either equal or maybe even better than the thrill that I got from being a student at the American University in Bulgaria. What would you say to the current and future owls? Be brave, be bold, don’t stop yourself just because a professor did not respond to an email for an interview, be annoying and enter their office even if it is not their office hours saying: “Hey, sir. Can I get an interview from you?”. Push yourself to the limits, because this is how you will upgrade your skills. One last thing - never stop learning and never stop going out of your comfort zone in order for you to become a better journalist. [caption id="attachment_39658" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]Optimized-DSC_0811 Mina Dobreva, former event beat reporter for AUBG Daily; Steliyana Yordanova for AUBG Daily[/caption] Mina Dobreva is a student from Sofia, Bulgaria, double-majoring in Journalism and Mass Communication and Business Administration. Dobreva has been part of AUBG Daily for two years as an event and profile beat reporter. She has also been the vice president of AUBG Olympics and this year's president of TEDxAUBG. Dobreva has further worked as a resident assistant at Skaptopara III. Prior to AUBG, she has a track record of practicing modern and classical ballet and rhythmic gymnastics. At present, she is compiling a capstone project of photographic snapshots, documenting the declining interest of children in ballet, worldwide, aiming to inspire the public to think about the benefits of practicing the sport. She has been shooting real-life dancers in urban environments throughout this semester-long process. Tell us about your best and worse memory of AUBG. It’s hard to name the best memory and make it superior to others. There have been many. What I would like to stay in my mind and my heart would be the people, not the moments themselves. In terms of the worst one, I would say my first day at AUBG. I felt really lost and I didn’t know anyone. It was really weird despite the fact that I was from Sofia. I was very shy and very insecure. My parents couldn’t stay with me so I was totally on my own and I felt very lost. I have this joke with my closest friend, Jacky [Dib]. I was stalking her because she was the only person who I barely knew. I was stalking her for the whole first day so I could start talking with someone and it turned out to be good. We became best friends. What were you before? What are you now? Before, I was much more naïve, much more open to people and ready to share everything. Despite the great social medium that it is, AUBG taught me to be a bit more conscious with whom you should share and to whom you should be open and to pick your friends wisely. If you were 18 years old, what would you do/what would you change? When I was 18, AUBG was my only option. I did not apply anywhere else.  I wanted to stay in Bulgaria but still wanted to study in a foreign academic system. I wouldn’t change anything. I’m quite happy with my choice and I would do it in the exact same way. What word defines you the best? Friend. What is the meaning of life to you? To leave a legacy, no matter if it’s a physical one or practical one, as an invention or a connection with a person, just something that you would be remembered with. You are awesome because… Because of my friends. Because I’m always ready to throw a sarcastic comment no matter what the situation is and usually that helps me cope with it. What is one of your takeaways from AUBG Daily? My writing skills. AUBG Daily was my basis for my first two years. I think it helped me for quite a while for my next two years, despite that I stopped being an active owl. Also, it helped me get engaged with AUBG life in general. Because of my constant want to take articles, to write and to be engaged, it made me get to know a lot of people. How do you imagine life after AUBG? Much more slow-paced. I bit more boring, but in a good way, in a more mature way. I imagine having time to read and to have time for my own. I’m optimistic about it but at the same time a bit nostalgic. What would you say to the current and future owls? Keep the tradition of representing the truth as it really is. Keep seeking interesting and new facts. Engaging the whole community and presenting it in the best way possible. Be curious and always be eager to keep developing as people, as owls, and as professionals. This article was a joint effort of Steliyana Yordanova and Georgi Dobrev.