Here Are the New AUBG Clubs for 23/24

With the start of the new academic year at AUBG, new clubs appeared on the Student Government’s budget chart at the All-Student Assembly on October 4. These are the newly established Ellipsis and AUBG Sharks.

Ellipsis is a student media organization which exists for the purpose of expanding on the journalistic activities taking place on campus. When asked about the origins of the club, Ellipsis president Nikol Ilieva shared that the idea was born during the previous academic year. The purpose of Ellipsis is, as she puts it, “to tell the stories after the ellipsis, the ones that are not yet told.”

After gaining attention and support from the Dean of Students, the club opened a booth in the ABF lobby and saw a lot of interest from students. They then got invited to a meeting with SG and were recognized as an official club with a budget.

The club’s activities consist of making interviews and short documentaries to tell stories that need more attention.

As of now, the club has 10 members and is currently planning an event which will take place in Panitza Library on October 26. It will consist of a poetry showcase with every member representing their respective country through poetry.

“Follow your passion and try new things,” is what Ilieva wishes to say to all prospective students. “Our approach in the club is not seek the ones with the greatest abilities but the ones that are passionate and trustworthy.”

The story of AUBG Sharks is slightly different from that of Ellipsis. The recently-established baseball club is a revival of the AUBG baseball team that stopped being active a few years ago.  

The president of Sharks, Arina Agayeva, shared that her love for this sport began during her high school exchange year in the US: “Baseball gave me a second family, developed me as a person, and helped me get integrated into the society of the United States.”

When asked about the origins of Sharks, Agayeva shares, “I wanted to introduce this extreme American experience to the community of AUBG, while at the same time pay a tribute to the previous baseball team.”

Since she was a senator in SG, she didn’t have any problem communicating her idea with the right people and managed to establish the club on paper and, from this year, with a proper budget. Agayeva, however, explained that the biggest obstacle in her path is to educate the people on baseball, as it is not a big part of Bulgarian culture.

Currently, the club has six active members and is hoping to recruit more people - and even play games with other Bulgarian teams. The members of the club look forward to the future and are currently planning a game during the spring semester as well as a reunion of the original team of AUBG Sharks.

“Baseball is not about the sport, it is about building a community,” said Agayeva, “A community you trust and one you are glad to be part of.”