Напротив, тук повечето ви часове ще бъдат с 5-6 души и преподавател, който няма за цел да си предаде материала и да си тръгне. Учителите горят в работата си и искат да разбереш, това което е казал и сте говорили помежду си, а не да седнеш вечерта преди изпита, да назубриш учебника и след седмица да забравиш всичко. На всичкото отгоре ще си избереш предметите, които искаш да учиш, а не тези, които ти се казва да учиш. В моето училище можеш да избереш до 6 предмета, а знаем, че в България имаш поне 12 предмета, от които половината не са ти интересни.

Стига толкова за часовете. Сега ще ти разкажа за хората и извънкласните дейности. Аз съм в училище, което е целият град – Hebron Academy. Тук ще можеш да си говориш с хората, които искаш по цял ден всеки ден. Тук ставаш приятел с много връстници и учители покрай извънкласните дейности и малките класни стаи. Тук ще можеш да пробваш 3 нови, или да продължиш развитието си в познатите за теб, спорта в рамките на една година. Покрай футбола завързах приятелства с хора от най-различни националности. Някои са: Бразилия, Мексико, САЩ, Германия. Никога не бих си помислил, че ще създам контакти с хора от толкова много различни държави в рамките на само месец.

Накратко, началото на тази учебна година в Harrogate Ladies’ College, за мен беше незабравимо. Запознах се с много интересни личности и посетих прекрасни кътчета на Англия.

Откъм училищната програма смятам, че избрах правилните предмети (Икономика, Психология и Математика). Радвам се, че имам възможността да уча в сфери, които при други обстоятелства не бих могла да достигна. Учителите са страхотни и определено имат подход към учениците.

Освен това в училище имаме много извънкласни дейности, в които можем да се включим. Аз например съм част от клуба по плуване и Duchy enterprise. Страхотно е, и че имаме възможността да се изявим в множество състезания като Senior Mathematics Challenge, литературни конкурси, театрални постановки и спортни състезания, в които и аз участвах.

Бих искала да благодаря за възможността, която HMC ми предостави, да уча в Harrogate Ladies’ College и да се включа в такова невероятно приключение.

Димана Давчева, НМС 2022-24

I am glad to be almost two months into my experience abroad in a private boarding school in Vermont, US. Even though I am not speaking with a full year experience I feel like I have already  experienced so much and my daily life has definitely taken a full 180. Life in a boarding school is something really new for me and the schedule is definitely extremely packed but you probably already expected that. As hard as it can be (especially in the beginning) the experience you will gain, the friendships and connections you will create and the places you will be able to see are worth every bit of your time and energy in the application process and also of your stay here if you get accepted.

So far I have had only one week-long break and I already managed to visit some places that I have been dreaming of for so many years now (with friends, on top of that!). I went to Boston and to NYC over break and it was one of the most amazing trips I have ever had. Once again, I encourage every single one of you reading this right now to jump out of your comfort zone and to apply for the exchange program because, trust me, your future self will be beyond grateful that you did them this major favor. Be open minded and excited for life wherever you are and take opportunities like this one – they are special and happen only once most of the time;)

Dimitar Minkov, ASSIST 2022-23

И въобще и не предполагах, че всъщност такова съществува. А то съществуваше, на брега на Темза. И избра точно мен сред десетки други кандидат-стипендианти.

Shiplake College

Тук прекарах две от най-хубавите години от живота си и опитах от всичко по много. Имаше смях, и сълзи, прегръдки, локдауни, академични постижения, един счупен глезен, изпити, изпити, изпити, песни, радост…

Имах честта да бъда обучавана от изключителни учители, да живея на удивително място, да срещна едни от най-добрите си приятели, но повече от всичко – да усетя какво означава общност, какво означава да принадлежиш.

“The more you give, the more you receive and vice versa, isn’t that the best kind of deal?” – каза директорът в заключителната си реч.

Да, Shiplake ми даде много. Имах честта да бъда Head of Gilson House, Prefect and Chapel Warden, а на Prize Giving бях удостоена с наградите Lashbrook Award – for service to the community, Caston Prize – for the pupil who has shown notable determination and tenacity during their College career, Alexander-Everett – for leadership in the College (за всички префекти) и Governor’s Spanish Prize. Шиплейк е магия и за мен е изключителна гордост, че вече нося титлата Old Viking.

От сърце благодаря на БАЧ и НМС за възможността!

Рада Пандева

Юли, 2021

Бел.: Рада вече е студент в University of Exeter, Marine Scence

Take a deep breath. Your country is known on the map. Or at least you think it is even though nobody else around knows if it even exists. But then, did you even understand from the first time they were asking where you are from? Surely not, because the accent was more British than in the videos you had watched. But it’s all okay. It takes time and a lot of courage.

I still vividly remember my first day in Scotland. All packed, slightly sleep deprived and sun burned, thinking how on earth the first school day has to be in August. However, this all seems very superficial compared to the fact that I had never set my foot in the UK before, and suddenly, I was about to live there for quite a long time. I wanted to daydream how it would be when I get to the boarding house, but since I had never been there, my mind was genuinely blank. But it was all going smoothly. I landed in Scotland, welcomed by nice cloudy weather. I had to call my taxi driver who would take me to my new school. Three minutes after the call, I was in complete distress. The only thing I understood from this first conversation was, “Wait.” Imagine a girl with big glasses and an expression as if she has just seen a ghost. That was me, and I realized I had taken the plunge.

Migration stories can be all myths to you until you actually experience them yourself. At first, you’re like everybody else, dreaming of a land far away where everything seems to be better, everyone is happy and accomplishing their dreams. The circle gets smaller when you take that one-way flight. You become the dream, somebody your family and friends think about quite a lot of the time. You start your new life, and then, it’s just you and your own migration story. In the beginning, I had a pretty good grasp of it. No nostalgic feels, no crying on the phone, all smiles and daisies during the days. However, as time went by, I got exhausted. Not many were the people who stuck with repeating from time to time something I couldn’t catch in a conversation, tell me how to get from point A to B, or accept the fact that my culture was very different but not in a bad way. Simply said, I got lost in the stereotype – the forever foreigner. I thought I had fallen in an empty pool.

Later, I found just that the fall lasted longer than I had expected, but the pool was there, and it was deep enough. It apparently took time for people around me to understand that the stereotype they expected to see wasn’t me. We both had to adapt in order for the puzzles to fit together and create a picture. You don’t have to abandon your personality to get a grasp of your new life. You should trade. Learn a few slang words, drink your tea with milk, and immerse yourself in the moment. Give somebody a piece of your character, and they would give you a piece of theirs. That’s how the mutual understanding and respect arose, and I learnt how to swim in the pool, not forgetting to breathe. Now every time I go back to school after vacation, I feel like I have come to a hometown rather than a foreign place.

It is challenging to start a new life from scratch. However, if you ask me, I would do it all over from the start again. It takes time. And a lot of courage.

It is 6 o’clock in the morning. I’ve just woken up, although I haven’t slept well. Neatly packed, my luggage awaits me by the door. The bus to Heathrow airport is leaving in an hour and I have enough time to contain my feelings. I’m used to it as I’ve always done it since my arrival at Christ College. It has been always the same, anxious feelings of anticipation – at the end of the day I will be back home; I will be with my family; I will be with my friends. It is as if I can almost see and smell the familiar surroundings. At this thought, a smile usually creeps onto my face.

I think that everything is ready, but I need to check once more. My clothes and my laptop, my book and my phone, my little sister’s present and the charger – all are at place. My ID, my wallet and my board card are in hand. Still there is something I can’t figure out. I’m missing something. What is it? It’s the fourth time I’ve travelled home, and it should be the same. But there’s something different. I’m not taking something with me this time and I’m going to miss it. I feel that I need to find it.

I decide to go out and distract myself. Perhaps I’ll get it. I stand in front of my boarding house, breathing the cool fresh air. The enormous hills ahead of me catch my eye and memories rush in. I am on Pen y Fan, the tallest summit in Brecon Beacons National Park in Wales. I am hiking with my last exeat guardian. I feel the wind, trying to steal my backpack and the rain pelting on my face. I also feel the pleasant exhaustion when we reach the peak and we sit to eat our sandwiches looking at the abyss below. I will miss my conversations with him.

I still have time, so I stroll down the alley until I reach the classrooms’ windows. At this time of the day there is no one there but I can almost hear the voices of my friendly tutors and my classmates discussing a problem or conducting an experiment. I can smell all the blood, sweat and tears my classmates and I have gone through these 2 terms I’ve been here. A little further I see the heads’ offices. In one of them is busy one of the most inspiring men I’ve met, the principal, who is always ready to boost your confidence while charging you with immense ambition and making a whale of a difference. In the other office is the deputy principal, the stern looking authority with his impeccable sense of behaviour code and school moral. He has taught me a lot, mainly to keep myself firmly on the ground and not get drawn in the clouds; how to leave my comfort zone and realise there’s always room for improvement.

I proceed and reach the chapel. I stop and look at it. The place we go to every other day and listen to our tutors or fellow students who have decided to share some wise words with us. I got quite interested from the beginning and I had been pondering for some time what it would be if it were me standing in front of the school and sharing my thoughts with them until one day, about a week ago, I did it. I was given the chance to deliver a speech on Respect. I’d been feeling a little nervous but now I know that I shouldn’t have been. I just hadn’t expected that it would fill me up with so much life and satisfaction. I also realised that had I not been here in this college I wouldn’t have ventured such a strenuous challenge and I wouldn’t have known that feeling.

It is time to go back to my house and pick up my luggage. As I’m approaching, my houseparent, appears at the entrance and asks me if I am ready. This is the person to whom I owe a lot. He is not of the people who is always meddling with the boy’s house life. Rather he gives enough freedom for us to become independent as long as we stick to the rules. Whenever, however, we need advice or support, he is invariably there. I do believe that the best advice and consideration I have received is from him.

Luggage in hand, I got on the coach, together with forty of my schoolmates. The bus is slowly departing and along with the feeling of anticipation a new emotion sneaks. And now I know what I’m going to be missing. It is my new friends, my daily routines and hard toil. My new life here – unexpectedly hard, but fully satisfying.

Ivan Mihaylov, Bulgaria
Christ College Brecon

I am very happy here! I feel like ASSIST couldn’t have done a better job of finding the right place for me. I love it – I love my loving host family, my amazing school, dedicated teachers, and great new friends. People here have been so welcoming and supportive from day one… and they still are!

Since I’ve come here, I’ve been to a pool birthday party, Colorado trip, drive-in movie night, soccer games, cross country meets, State Fair, Sandia Peak, Homecoming, sleepover, Powderpuff game, Balloon Fiesta and Halloween party and sooo much more!

In terms of classes, I’m taking Adv. English III, Adv. Precalc Through Modeling, Adv. French IV, US History and Photo-Digital Design. I love the language classes because the teachers are super passionate about their subjects and always willing to help. We learn a lot in classes, but we have a lot of fun too. Honestly, my math (precalc) class is the most challenging, as it is not just a regular class but rather one with more real-life oriented problems. I believe this is a better way to understand new math concepts and know more about how everyday things work. That is why I am not giving up on this challenge and I keep getting better – I got 91% on that as my quarter grade! (You probably have my grade report too, but still… I’m pretty proud of it haha)

On clubs and extracurriculars, I’m currently a member of the Business and Quizbowl clubs. Also, I’m doing Speech and Debate! And it’s super exciting! With my amazing coach’s help, I prepared a Program Oral Interpretation (POI) called “America: The Freaking Best”. It’s about the typical American things and how foreigners see them. It consists of prose and poetry pieces by various authors, as well as different articles. Soo today was my first tournament here, at UNM, doing this particular event and it was overwhelming and super great… mostly because I got to finals!!! I was super happy and didn’t even expect that. I got 6th place which is actually pretty good!

Strangely enough – I do not feel homesick because I have soo many things going on here and great people to spend my time with. As the holidays are approaching, I’m expecting to actually feel the real homesickness, but I feel like I’m prepared for that and have a lot of ways to quickly get over it.

I can’t wait for Thanksgiving and Christmas here, though! They both are such great holidays and now that Halloween is over, I’m looking forward to them both.

It’s difficult for me to find the right words to thank you and everyone at ASSIST enough! I’ve been living my best life here and I know there’s so many more exciting experiences to come!

THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Много съм щастлива! Имам чувството, че ASSIST са направили възможно най-добрият избор за мястото, където да прекарам тази учебна година. Обичам го – обичам прекрасното си приемно семейство, невероятното училище и страхотните нови приятели.

Откакто съм тук съм правила толкова много нови неща – ходих парти край басейн, почивка в Колорадо, автокино вечер, крос-кънтри срещи, Щатски панаир, връх Сандиа, танца Homecoming, Powderpuff американски футбол, Фестивал на балоните, Хелоуин парти и мноого други. Най-хубавата част е, че ме очакват още много такива, даже по-вълнуващи приключения.

Системата в една частна американска гимназия, като Albuquerque Academy, е, разбира се, много по-различна от тази в типичната българска. Тук сам избираш какви часове да взимаш всяка учебна година, според това какви са интересите ти и на какво ниво си. Задължително трябва английският и историята да са част от програмата, но всичко останало е въпрос на избор (и план). И тъй като не всички имат същите часове като теб, имаш различни съученици по различните предмети. Учителите също са много различни – отдадени са на професията си и рядко уроците им са под формата на лекции. Винаги са готови да отделят от свободното си време, ако имаш нужда от помощ или съвет.

Часовете, които аз взимам са английски, американска история, математика чрез моделиране, френски език и фотография и обработка. Любими са ми езиците, но сякаш всеки предмет има по нещо специално и уникално. Честно казано, математиката е най-голямото предизвикателство за мен, защото часът ми не е просто „нормална“ математика, а по-скоро такава със задачи за приложението на това, което учим в истинския живот. Да, по-трудно е, но вярвам, че си заслужава, защото е по-добър начин за учене, който ще ми е полезен занапред.

Аз съм част от Бизнес и Quizbowl клубовете, както и любимият ми – Речи и Дебати. Много е вълнуващо! С помощта на треньорката ми, подготвих интерпретативна реч за Америка и начинът, по който чужденците я възприемат. Преди седмица се явих на състезание по речи и стигнах до финалния кръг. Бях много щастлива, защото въобще не очаквах това, но ето, че се случи. Още едно доказателство, че всичко е възможно.

Хората. Все пак това е много важна страна на всяко ново място. Отново, мога да кажа само хубави неща: усмихнати, любезни, заинтересовани, мотивирани, учещи. Тук момичетата правят комплименти една на друга, а момчетата винаги задържат вратата. Всичко в училище е чисто и поддържано. Може да си оставиш чантата на средата на двора, никой няма и да си помисли да я вземе, а дори няма камери. Просто хората са такива.

Може и да е странно, но не ми е толкова мъчно за вкъщи, колкото очаквах. Толкова много неща ми се случват, с толкова много хора общувам, че не се сещам да седна да плача за това. Сигурно ще ми стане тъжничко по празниците, но определено имам начини да се почувствам по-добре.

Не преувеличавам… наистина всичко е толкова хубаво. Да, през последните три месеца съм стояла будна до късно, за да уча за тест, да пиша домашни, да се подготвям за презентация но усилията ми винаги се възнаграждават. Заслужава си!

Трудно е да намеря правилните думи за да благодаря достатъчно на всички от БАЧ и ASSIST. Прекарвам си страхотно тук и нямам търпение за всичко, което ме очаква.

БЛАГОДАРЯ.