A Beautiful Mind

Author: Iulita Osichenko, third-year AUBG student 

AUBG professors as well as current and former students gathered together on Friday night, Oct. 7, to honor the memory of one of our most beloved professors – Cosmina Tanasoiu, who passed away this summer after a long battle with cancer. This was, in the words of Silvana Enculescu, one of Tanasoiu's students, "her [Tanasoiu's] last homework – a joyful celebration of a life well lived.” It was indeed a remarkable life, as was once again proved by the words of all the people who spoke about her that night. [caption id="attachment_32787" align="aligncenter" width="570"] Prof. Tanasoiu Photo: www.aubg.edu[/caption]

“If you ever wondered who was the top professor after students’ evaluations – it was Cosmina,” said Emilia Zankina, AUBG Provost, who spoke on the behalf of the university’s administration. “And she was also the one who gave the lowest grades. Because she was tough. So you knew when she told you something nice that you must be stellar!” she added. 

Tanasoiu’s mother was also there.  Impressed by the large number of people who came to honor her daughter, she said that she and her husband, as well as her teachers from Romania and abroad, “thank her, as she reached the height of her profession – as a teacher, as a friend, and as a colleague.”  Her mother also shared that for Tanasoiu, her time at AUBG was as special as the one before she came here to teach. [caption id="attachment_32816" align="aligncenter" width="1280"] Cosmina Tanasoiu[/caption]

“She came from a family of teachers, of grades and books. She respected the school and she loved teaching. She kept telling us that she doesn’t know anything else but how to teach,” her mother said and added that during the years, she had the chance to visit AUBG and to see the place where her daughter “was teaching and doing her best.” “I hope the seeds that she planted here will keep giving more and more fruits for the years to come. And I hope you won’t forget her, especially the younger ones,” she said.

On the behalf of those younger ones, who met her just recently, but loved her just as much, I can promise that we’ll never forget her. I am sure most of us that evening felt even more determined to do something in her name, something difficult and challenging, something she would be proud of. Because she was and still is the inspiration for so many life journeys, including mine. [caption id="attachment_32788" align="aligncenter" width="560"] Prof. Tanasoiu Photo: www.aubg.edu[/caption] I remember the day when I found myself in the library, at her lecture on “Politics and Superheroes.” At that time, I knew nothing about superheroes, and didn’t intend to ever know anything about politics. I don’t even remember why exactly I was there. The lecture made virtually no sense to me, and at some point I was simply crushed by the realization that there is so much in the world I don’t have the slightest idea of. But the next day, I was sitting in Tanasoiu’s office, trying to find out what the major in “European Studies” was all about. This is how I unexpectedly discovered what I want to do in my life. Many of her students could share a similar story, and an alumnus, Radu Colonescu, put it best by saying “She knew more than we thought she knew about us.” And now the challenge is to keep going on without her. Some people are so fully alive that it’s impossible to imagine them gone. Cosmina, as her students liked calling her, is one of them - so brilliant that you’d think no words can do her justice. But the words spoken that night in the theater, where we gathered to celebrate her life – they could. They could somehow bring her spirit back for a little while, because she generously shared this spirit, this life-force with every person she met – and we kept it in us as a treasure. And when we gathered in that hall, we brought those pieces together - some of them bigger, some of them smaller, but all full of her. Hearing the stories shared by her friends and the words of her mother caused us both pain and joy, and made us feel that so many people loved Cosmina so strongly, that they are not going to let her memory pass away. At the end of the night, we went outside to light her favorite Chinese lanterns, and set them off into the night. The sky was sparked by the lights, as bright as our memories of her. A beautiful way to say goodbye!