The first edition of the AUBG Griffin’s Journey gathers 50 high-school students from across Bulgaria to get a first-hand experience of what it is like to be an AUBGer.
Organized by first-year students, Elena Zaharieva and Emil Hayrumyan, and the Admissions Office of AUBG, the event gave the participants an opportunity to dive deep into the main aspects of university life – from the orientation week to a typical semester day and, finally, the graduation moment.
Student Orientation Begins
On the first day of their university journey simulation, the participants went through a myriad of onboarding activities, such as an admissions lecture, a campus tour, diversity training with Resident Assistants, icebreakers, and a pizza night.
Classes Begin
With the start of a demo semester, AUBG professors Elena Radeva, Jeffrey Nilsen, and Jason Murphy gave mock lectures on business, microeconomics, and podcasting, while AUBG alumni, Emil Todorov (‘22) and Yuliy Yuliev (‘19), introduced the young generation to the world of entrepreneurship and cryptocurrency.
Extracurriculars and All that Jazz
Since a typical AUBG student’s schedule involves not only lectures and study sessions but also some extracurricular activities, a part of the day was dedicated to a club fair and student club meetings. After that, the participants were divided into three teams and asked to come up with an idea for a new student club.
When reflecting on the event and the club challenge specifically, Elena Zaharieva noted the power that simple ideas and collaborative work hold. “The program is a great proof of the fact that the quick, random, and not overthought ideas are the ones that we should keep up to,” said Elena. “Anything is possible when you work with a great team, even putting up a major event in just several weeks.”
Final Exams and Graduation
As every university experience, eventually, comes down to a commencement ceremony, Griffin’s Journey had its own special graduation day. Having presented the final projects, the participants put on their graduation gowns, received the certificates of completion, and flipped the tassels from left to right.
“Griffin’s Journey is one exclusive program, which gives a chance to adolescents to work with a team and even be the team’s leader,” said Radina Minkova, an event participant. “Being part of something big as that, young people can develop their communication skills and become more gregarious and creative, thanks to the people that surround them and the environment they work in. If you are a future AUBG student, but you are afraid you will not have time to explore the university and its majors and extracurricular activities, Griffin’s Journey can make you a university student for a day and even more!”
