AUBG is a unique ecosystem that blends the best of Bulgarian and American educational traditions. When entering AUBG, students become part of that ecosystem and need to be prepared to flourish in it.
That’s the role of Summer Pre-Orientation and Fall Orientation. “For a very limited period of time, we have to offer to every single student the opportunity to be absolutely ready to enter the classroom and campus life,” said Sabina Wien, Dean of Students. “It’s an investment in the students, but also in the professor-student relationship.”
The Orientation team, led by the Dean of Students and composed of Resident Assistants, MentiFYers, CLAS Advisors, and several liaisons, work in close harmony to guide new students into the AUBG community. A few years ago, the MentiFY program was introduced to help new students seamlessly integrate into the AUBG journey. “It embodies the very essence of AUBG – building a community where you feel you belong from your very first steps,” said Mariam Arakelyan, Fall’25 Head MentiFYer.
How the MentiFY program was born
In the aftermath of COVID-19, high schoolers became addicted to communicating online. “We were starting to see a different need to socialize them here at AUBG,” explained Dean Wien.
One of the key missions of Orientation and the MentiFY program is to introduce students to AUBG and its resources, while also educating them about its values.
“But another mission is to really teach them how to communicate directly with one another without relying on electronic devices,” Dean Wien added.
The Dean of Students team realized that the best way to reach the new generation and truly be heard was through peer-to-peer education. “That’s a universal method that you see at American universities, but less so at European ones,” explained Dean Wien.
In 2021, the MentiFY program was launched at AUBG, supported by Marko Mazepa (Class of 2025). At that time, education was hybrid, which made it possible for a single student to provide transitional peer education to the entire cohort. The following year, with all students back on campus and a growing number of new students, the Orientation team faced new challenges. “In a situation like this, you have to be creative with limited resources.”
Photo by Kaloyan Doychinov
Photo by Yenlik O'Neil
Magical vocabulary
Dean Wien – known to the AUBG community simply as Sabina – explains that the name of the program was inspired by the beautiful vocabulary in the Harry Potter books she would read to her son at the time. “The idea behind it is that there’s AUBG magic happening.”
When developing the program, Sabina and her team looked at other universities for inspiration. “But we also wanted to create something which is grassroots and is based on who we are. We wanted it to be part of the value system of AUBG”
The power of peer-to-peer education
A total of 55 student leaders supported a cohort of 420 first-year, transfer and exchange students in the Fall ‘25 Orientation. “The ratio of peer-to-peers is not too bad at all,” noted Dean Wien.
In the program, the new students were divided into groups of 20 and guided be a MentiFYer, a higher-standing AUBG student, through interactive workshops and sessions on student experience-related topics.
“It was fascinating to relive Orientation Week from the perspective of the MentiFYers who helped guide us last year,” said Sebastian Oré, a Fall’25 MentiFYer and Sophomore at AUBG.
Second-year student Jara Karaguteva added: “While preparing the meetings for incoming students, you get nostalgic memories of once being in their shoes, when you were the investigator of new horizons. And now, you’re rather the navigator of opportunities.”
Dean Wien emphasized the importance of peer-to-peer education in creating an authentic environment where new students can quickly adapt to university life.
“Otherwise, you would end up with an artificial Orientation environment where there’s staff members, maybe a couple of professors, and only first-year students on campus,” explained Dean Wien. “Just a couple of days later, when all of a sudden the 800+ returning students are back, the first-years would get lost in the crowd.”
This approach clearly resonated with students. The Fall ‘25 Orientation Satisfaction Survey, conducted by the Dean of Students Office, revealed that students experienced a strong sense of belonging, with 89% expressing satisfaction or high satisfaction with the program.
“I think Orientation was great social-wise,” said Gabriela Igleva, a first-year student. “I managed to meet way more people than I thought was possible and form quite deep connections.”
Photo by Yenlik O'Neil
Photo by Kaloyan Doychinov
Developing the program
The MentiFY program and Orientation have always been joint efforts between the Dean of Students team and students.
While the administration provides the “what”, the non-negotiable educational content, MentiFYers have the freedom to shape the “how” through the activities and their individual leadership approach.
“Not many people saw the immediate need, but now they’re taking on so many responsibilities, adding so much to Orientation Week that without them, I don’t think we could have handled it,” said Maha Afif (Head MentiFYer AY 24-25).
“It is pretty much the perfect model for people to feel more included,” added Iren Dimitrova (Lead MentiFYer AY 24-25).
Civic engagement project
The civic engagement project is a big part of the MentiFY program, showing how aware and caring AUBG students are, full of ideas and ready to implement the knowledge and skills they gain even before starting their careers. “Educating civically engaged leaders has always been part of AUBG’s mission,” said Dean Wien.
Students worked in groups on developing civic engagement projects that benefit the local community, from supporting disadvantaged communities to cleaning public spaces. The Civic Engagement session in Orientation has evolved over the years to make it more engaging, based on student feedback.
“When we decided to make the project more creative and add flip charts, for example, students really dig the idea,” said Maha Afif. “It’s good to get them engaged from the start because AUBG is all about that.”
“I feel like this cohort (Class of 2029) wants to give back more, attend more sessions, be more present, and enjoy the experience to the maximum,” added Iren Dimitrova.
Photo by Yenlik O'Neil
Photo by Yenlik O'Neil
An egalitarian and dynamic system
The MentiFY program has evolved into a full-proof system, resembling a human resources structure. There are heads and a lead who guide the MentiFYers.
“As of this year, there’s also a department structure, which was introduced by the students themselves,” said Dean Wien. Each MentiFYer belongs to one of five departments: educational and social activities , international students support, logistics and partner relations, marketing and promotion, internal communication and documentation, each led by a third- or fourth-year student.
Another addition to the Fall ’25 program was the involvement of three alumni MentiFYers – Maha Afif and Iren Dimitrova (Class of 2025), and Ivan-Asen Enchev (Class of 2022), who actively supported the Dean of Students team. “All three of them are such intuitive and amazing leaders,” said Dean Wien.
Maha Afif reflects on her experience: “It’s been a full-circle moment to move from seeking guidance to offering it, and to see how even small acts of support can ripple forward. Being able to give back to AUBG, a community that shaped me, is a reminder of the responsibility and joy of helping others grow and succeed.”
What makes the program stand out is that it’s “quite egalitarian and dynamic,” according to Dean Wien. “If you have a great idea and resources to back it up, we will discuss it and implement it together right away.”
Even the selection of future MentiFYers follows this approach, with every member of the administration and student team having one equal candidate nomination vote.
What’s the benefit of being a MentiFYer?
“The MentiFY program at AUBG is a classical leadership opportunity for students. Often, they’re not aware of their skills, impact, or potential. And many of them really bloom throughout the program,” said Radosveta Miltcheva-Castle, Assistant Dean of Students for Student Leadership and Engagement .
Of course, MentiFYers get comprehensive training one week before Orientation, including sessions led by professors, such as Professor Matthew Whoolery’s workshop on facilitation.
Sebastian Oré, a Fall ’25 MentiFYer, expressed his satisfaction with the experience: “The program is facilitated amazingly by our Dean of Students Office. All the alumni and faculty who helped us were amazing at providing the information and resources we needed as MentiFYers. If I could, I would do it all over again without a second thought.”
The program comes with many benefits for the MentiFYers. “The training is an additional bonus, developing their leadership and soft skills. It’s like work experience,” said Maha Afif.
Next year’s MentiFYers are nominated by the current ones and selected through egalitarian voting at the end of the Spring semester. “We usually take a mental note of people who are more active, kind, empathetic, and who already show some of the qualities we look for in a MentiFYer,” said Iren Dimitrova. “We call them ‘the AUBG type of people’.”
Guiding the next generation
The main idea behind the MentiFY program is to embody “the AUBG way”.
“In order to be a good MentiFYer, you need to understand what AUBG is about,” said Maha Afif. “The second you get that figured out, everything else just falls into place.” This is echoed in the first-year students’ experience as well.
The AUBG community is already looking forward to the 5th edition of MentiFY in Fall 2026. It will be exciting to see how the new generation of MentIFYers guide and inspire the Class of 2030. If you would like to contribute in whatever way, the Orientation Team will welcome you!
