{"id":34044,"date":"2020-12-17T14:15:52","date_gmt":"2020-12-17T11:15:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zaednovchas.bg\/?p=34044"},"modified":"2021-01-06T14:16:21","modified_gmt":"2021-01-06T11:16:21","slug":"when-a-student-follows-in-the-footsteps-of-her-teacher-gergana-cholakovas-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zaednovchas.bg\/en\/when-a-student-follows-in-the-footsteps-of-her-teacher-gergana-cholakovas-story\/","title":{"rendered":"When a Student Follows in the Footsteps of Her Teacher: Gergana Cholakova\u2019s Story"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

September of 2011. <\/em>A typical start of the school year for Gergana Cholakova and her classmates at the Vocational High School of Tourism in the town of Samokov. Some classes, however, seem to have a slightly different atmosphere – not only because they are taught by the two new teachers, but also because the new teachers are significantly younger than the rest of their colleagues at the high school.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Gergana Cholakova<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The new teachers are Radina Marinchev<\/a>a, who teaches economics, entrepreneurship, and accounting, and Deyan Petrov, who teaches philosophy. While trying to get to know their students, Radina and Deyan shared a lot about themselves. This was how Geri and her classmates found out that the two teachers were placed in Samokov as part of the first class of participants in a program which recruits professionals with diverse backgrounds to become teachers<\/a> in an effort to provide every child in Bulgaria with access to quality education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back then Geri was in 10th grade and this was the first time she\u2019d heard about Teach For Bulgaria. This introduction led to a long adventure which would later make Geri the first student of Teach For Bulgaria teachers to become a teacher and to participate in the program<\/a>. She is currently part of the teacher support team at the organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Setting a good example in and out of the classroom<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

According to Geri, all teachers at the Vocational High School of Tourism in Samokov were devoted to their profession, but Radina and Deyan raised the bar even higher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Radina and Deyan<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

If you asked her to summarize her first impressions of Radina and Deyan, Geri would reply in just one word: rigor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI remember getting 80% at one of the accounting tests which would be a B, so I asked her (Radina), \u201cWhy couldn\u2019t I get an A?\u201d and she said, \u201cI think you could do much better than an A,\u201d <\/em>Geri shares<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

At first, Geri and her classmates were surprised by Radina\u2019s high expectations. As time went by, however, they realized that she was this demanding because she was trying to build their self-efficacy and begin to unfold their full potential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat Radina taught me in 10th grade helped me later when I was in university. This is very indicative of the kind of impact she had,\u201d says Geri who majored in tourism at the South-West University in Blagoevgrad.<\/em><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Geri remembers Deyan as the life of the party in a purely intellectual way, and as someone who did their best to engage his students in meaningful extracurricular activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deyan recommended a variety of books to Geri and recruited her to participate in the newly-formed student parliament which he initiated and which still operates on the territory of the entire municipality. Geri turned to him for advice when she had the idea to start a women\u2019s soccer team in Samokov. Unfortunately, they weren\u2019t able to finish this project. The local soccer school \u201cDimcho Marinov\u201d managed to start a women\u2019s soccer team later on, but it was only active for a couple of years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following in the footsteps of her teachers <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Geri did a semester in Portugal as an Erasmus + exchange student in year 4 of her university studies. This allowed her to experience a completely different education model. The focus was on practical activities which provoked the students to build upon their skills and knowledge by working on a variety of different tasks.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This far more engaging approach appealed to Geri and she decided that she wanted to become a teacher after graduating in order to help her students grow into thinking, curious, and responsible citizens. She also realized that this would allow her to pay it forward by following in the footsteps of her inspiring teachers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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