EducationUSA Competitive College Club (CCC) Macedonia

On March 24th 2015, the members of the 2015 EducationUSA Competitive College Club Bitola met up at the Corner for Book Club. The Book chosen for this monthly meeting was "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer. The discussion was led by Peace Corps Volunteer Ted Shibata.  Into the Wild addresses the issues of how to be accepted into society, and how finding oneself sometimes conflicts with being an active member in society.Most critics agree that the main character left to find some sort of enlightenment.He also tries to find his way in the wild with as little material possessions because "it made the journey more enjoyable". His extreme risk-taking was the hubris which eventually led to his downfall. This book is great for discussion and sharing ideas, because it has deeper meaning in the text with the "revolutionize your life and move into an entirely new realm of experience".

On March 12th 2015 the American Corner Bitola organized EducationUSA Competitive College Club Bitola Meeting via Skype with Ms. Marlene M. Nice, Public Diplomacy Desk Officer for South Central European Affair.  Ms. Nice’s professional experience includes joining the State Department in 2005 as a Public Diplomacy Officer and working in U.S. embassies in Croatia, El Salvador and Austria. Prior to becoming an officer, she also worked in US Embassies in Turkey and Uruguay. In her previous career, she was a reporter, editor, and columnist for newspapers in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. In her current position, she is the public affairs liaison with US Embassies in the Balkans and the South Central European Affairs Office.  Ms. Nice also shared and compared the different colleges and universities that her children went to, the advantages and the disadvantages of large public university in the U.S. versus small private colleges. At the end Q & A followed.

On March 5th 2015 the American Corner Bitola hosted an amazing Workshop titled “Soft Skills and Learning Styles for Youth Employability”. The workshop led by Ms. Natasa Chavdarovska, Association for civil activism FORUM 16 – Bitola, aimed to facilitate the integration in current labor market by developing and/or enhancing participants’ soft skills (language/communication, adaptability, problem solving, sharing solution, creative thinking, flexibility, creativity, motivation) in order to become more skilled and attractive for future potential employers. Youth unemployment is a crucial issue world-wide and at a local level. The growth of long-term unemployment among youth, has led many people to refer to a “lost generation”. One of positive solutions to youth unemployment problem is empowerment of youngsters, because today's youth needs a creative, independent, non-traditional way of thinking about business and their future employment prospects. It is important to increase both skil