A global community of Bulgarians with international experience, Tuk-Tam has established a scholarship fund that every year supports talented young Bulgarians who have been accepted for a graduate degree at a prestigious university abroad and who plan to contribute to their home country upon graduation.
AUBGers are often among the awardees, and this year two alumni, Alexandra Milkova (’21) and Rosen Dinchev (’20), received Tuk-Tam scholarships to pursue their Master’s degrees abroad. We spoke to each of them to hear more about what helped them win the scholarship, what are they going to study and what they plan to do after graduation.
We now introduce you to Alexandra who graduated with a double major in Business Administration and Economics, and a minor in Mathematics. During her studies, she assisted with the preparation of a manuscript, which discusses the level of preparedness of Bulgarian banks for ERM ll. She received a 10,000 BGN scholarship from Tuk-Tam sponsored by PostScriptum Ventures to study finance at IESEG School of Management in Paris.
Congratulations on your Tuk-Tam scholarship! What is the significance of this award to you and in what ways do you plan to contribute to Bulgaria upon graduation?
Tuk-Tam is an organization that invests in people, who they believe can contribute to Bulgaria after receiving education abroad. Therefore, the most important significance for me was that there was a large group of people who were willing to bet on me to be able to do some good in my country (hopefully, I won’t disappoint). Regarding my plans, I believe Bulgaria has investment potential in many different sectors, but the one I would like to work towards is sustainable development. My scholarship was sponsored by PostScriptum Ventures, where I am currently interning. The amazing team there works every day toward a greener tomorrow, so they are currently teaching me how I could go about making my plans come true.
You will be studying finance at the IESEG School of Management in Paris. Why did you choose this specific graduate program and university?
I chose the program because in AUBG I found out what I love to do [finance] and the program at IESEG has all the courses I wasn’t able to cover during my Bachelor’s. On why I chose Paris… cheese and wine.
In what ways has your AUBG experience – both with academics and extracurricular — helped you in your personal and professional development?
Regarding academics, my professors have taught me so much, both subject-wise and life-wise. Even courses I thought I would hate turned out beneficial and engaging (shout-out to Strategic Management). Regarding extracurricular [activities], I joined the Investment Management Club just for fun, but the experience turned out to be why I fell in love with finance as a field (but also a special shout-out to the theater [classes], I just couldn’t monetize you).
What are your career plans for after completing your Master’s degree?
I want to be back in Bulgaria and allocating financial capital to companies, which deserve it, have great ideas, and are overall helping the country reach its true potential.
