There is a community of AUBG students who have at first studied somewhere else but at some point decided to transfer to AUBG. The university allows for up to 60 course credits to be transferred if they are similar to the academic courses offered at AUBG. This is what Tony Mladenov decided to do when he transferred from New York College in Greece to our university.
Tony studied Business Administration in Greece which allowed him to transfer two years of his studies and most of the credits he needed for his Business Administration degree at AUBG. Now he is a third-year student in Blagoevgrad and is focused on his second major — Psychology.
“There, I studied business only, it was kind of hard to double major,” Tony said. “Unlike at AUBG, where it is way easier to do two majors and even a minor. I was always interested in Psychology so it was a good opportunity here at AUBG. I took one general course in Psychology in Greece. And I am taking Social Psychology here. I have another year to fulfill this degree.”
His decision was not spontaneous. While some of his classmates have decided to transfer back to Bulgaria when the Covid-19 pandemic started, he had a strategy for his student life even before his freshman year. “My plan was always to come here,” Tony said. “I wanted to do it 50-50 — two years in Greece and two at AUBG. That’s because I heard a lot of good things from my friends and I was impressed by what I saw on social media about AUBG. It wasn’t the COVID situation that made me transfer but it played a role, since the measures in Greece were pretty strict. And it is nice that the AUBG campus has found a way to make it work.”
What Tony was most excited about, however, were the extracurricular activities at AUBG. “When I learned that there were student clubs at AUBG I was surprised,” Tony said. ”I joined the Startup Blagoevgrad, I love the entrepreneurial spirit there, and I am starting my own basketball club. I have played professionally for a couple of years. I saw that there were a lot of good players on campus and I decided we should not waste talent.” Tony is excited to have his new club participate in championships in the amateur league. Some of the members will be playing, while others will take care of the club’s marketing.
He feels happy with his transfer decision, the friends he found and the opportunities that he was offered. When asked what students should do if they don’t feel happy with their environment, he says:
“Change it. You are not a tree. You don’t have roots. You can go anywhere. It is not just about your studies. I think that if you don’t like something you should change it. But you have to research and find your place. You have to contact people and hear their perspective. Find your chance and go take it.“
