{"id":27895,"date":"2019-12-15T17:39:18","date_gmt":"2019-12-15T14:39:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zaednovchas.bg\/?p=27895"},"modified":"2019-12-15T17:39:18","modified_gmt":"2019-12-15T14:39:18","slug":"dzhani-chernev_story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zaednovchas.bg\/en\/dzhani-chernev_story\/","title":{"rendered":"Leaving the Family Business to Pursue Your Dreams"},"content":{"rendered":"

Or how civil engineer Dzhani\u00a0 Chernev decided to roll up his sleeves and build his own future in the classroom as a math teacher<\/span><\/i><\/h3>\n
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Dzhani\u00a0 is also one of the teachers selected to participate in this year\u2019s recruitment campaign for new program participants<\/span><\/i><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Dzhani seems to be one of those lucky people whose career has pretty much been chosen for him. Born into the family of an engineer with his own construction company and an older brother who had already followed in the footsteps of his father, the most natural thing for Dzhani was to follow their lead. He graduated from Vocational High School of Electronics “John Atanasoff” and then from the <\/span>University<\/span> of Civil <\/span>Engineering<\/span> and Architecture “<\/span>Lyuben Karavelov<\/span>” in Sofia.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI was surrounded by blueprints at home. It was fascinating to see my father and older brother in action – designing an apartment building or working on a university project\u2026 More or less, that was how I decided to follow in their footsteps,\u201d Dzhani explains his initial career choice.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But when he was still a high school student Dzhani discovered yet another source of inspiration – \u201cmotivated teachers\u201d and \u201ca wonderful class teacher\u201d. <\/span>He thought that perhaps someday he might work in education.<\/span><\/i> This idea, inspired by his dedicated teachers, however, had to be put on the backburner. Dzhani got his degree in civil engineering and worked in his father\u2019s construction company for a few years. He was happy, but something was missing. The inspiration he felt in the classroom was still there. Looking back, he realized that as a high school and university student he always helped his classmates, loved explaining and showing them how to solve problems, or reassured them, if anyone felt like they didn\u2019t understand or wouldn\u2019t be able to do something.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The decision to apply for Teach For Bulgaria\u2019s program seemed only natural to him – a way to pursue the dream he had in high school.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Follow Dzhani\u2019s example and join Teach For Bulgaria\u2019s program by submitting your online application <\/b>here<\/b><\/a>. <\/b><\/h4>\n
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To his friends, however, this drastic career change was quite surprising.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAt first my friends asked me how I came to that decision, why I would choose to work for next to nothing, so on and so forth. They thought it was strange that I would go from working as a civil engineer in my father\u2019s company and potentially helping him grow our family business to teaching. Some of them still don\u2019t get it even though they saw it for themselves and told me they had never heard me talk about my job with such passion before.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

According to Dzhani, Teach For Bulgaria participants are motivated and do not give up easily. He demonstrated the same perseverance when, despite the disapproval of his closest friends, he joined Teach For Bulgaria\u2019s class of 2017-2019. Dzhani taught math and IT at 170 Secondary School \u201cVasil Levski\u201d in the village of Novi Iskar for two years.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Teaching is challenging and requires absolute dedication<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Dzhani was convinced that teaching was challenging and would require absolute dedication. His daily routine as a math teacher at the school in Novi Iskar went something like this:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI got up at 5:40 a.m. I quickly learned that breakfast was important and if I had the time, I\u2019d also have a few sips of coffee before I left my apartment. I caught the tram for two stops, got on the subway for three stops, and then took the 27 bus. I often traveled with Galya and Zheni [Teach For Bulgaria participants from the class of 2016-2018] on the bus – they also had early morning classes. The bus ride was about 40 minutes long. We had plenty of time to talk about classes and students the three of us shared – what had happened the day before, if there was anything we could do differently, or we\u2019d just share some personal stories because we quickly became friends. We got to school by 7:30. Classes started at 8, but I usually used these 30 minutes to go over my schedule, see if there were some changes, printing out worksheets, tests, etc. Then I quickly grabbed the class record book and went to class. After I was done with classes I usually tutored students who needed additional support at least three days of the week. So on most days I would leave school at 3 or 4 p.m. and get home by 5.\u00a0 After a short break it was time to prepare for the following day. If I had the time, I would go out with friends for about an hour or catch up on my reading at home. Then it was time to go to bed and wake up in the morning to do it all over again.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Take a look at this video which documents Dzhani, Galya, and Zheni\u2019s experience as teachers:<\/i><\/b><\/h5>\n