EducationUSA Competitive College Club (CCC) Macedonia

The members of the EdUSA Competitive College Club Bitola had their essay writing session on June 26th with the help of Marija Iloska, student at Stony Brook University. During this session the students were working on creation of the best essay sentences which are rich in content and relate strongly to the essay topic. The students were also working on making difference between well composed sentences and the ones that cannot be implemented in a good essay. At the end of the session, students received homework to read an essay sample and identify the well composed sentences.

The Union College student Marko Manevski has returned to Bitola for his summer break and he is continuing with the SAT Preparation sessions held for the current students of the EdUSA Competitive College Club Bitola. The first session took place on June 22nd. During this session Marko talked more about the Basics of SAT, and also discussed with the students about the learning methods for test preparation and the future plans of the students. Some of the CCC students have taken the test and they also shared their SAT experience during the discussion with Marko.

EdUSA Competitive College Club Bitola students discussed the book, 'Joy Luck Club' on June 22nd with the help of Peace Corps Volunteer Ted Shibata. The discussion focused on challenges of cultural translation among Chinese immigrant families as portrayed in the book. CCC students took that concept and applied it to other immigrant experiences and talked about how there are some universal themes that exist in the idea of cultural translation. Finally, they talked about the power of storytelling and how universal the concept is of conveying a message or lesson, when language or other cultural barriers exist.

Two members of the EdUSA Competitive College Club Bitola were admitted to study in the U.S. in the school year 2015/2016. On 19th June, both Marijana Miloshevska and Jana Gagacheva, held a presentation at the AC Bitola about their experience during the whole process of applying to college. Marijana Miloshevska, freshman at Rochester Institute of Technology and Jana Gagaceva, freshman at University of California – Davis talked to the current CCC members about their work on the university applications, and the preparations for the admission exams, such as the SAT, and TOEFL. Marijana and Jana also gave tips about the school research and the process of finding the right school match.

On June 18th 2015 the EducationUSA Competitive College Club Bitola had viewing session of EducationUSA Interactive Webchat with international students in the United States who shared their successes and challenges both inside and outside the classroom. Students from around the world discussed their motivation to study in the United States and the benefits gained from their experience. This webinar session named: “A Conversation with International Students” was of great interest for the members of the EdUSA Competitive College Club Bitola since they received valuable firsthand information about the experience of studying abroad. The webinar was rounded with a Q&A session coming from the attendees worldwide and from the members of EdUSA Competitive College Club Bitola.

On June 18th the members of EdUSA Competitive College Club Bitola had a Skype meeting with Mr. Gazmend Ilazi, Educational Affairs Assistant at the U.S. Embassy Macedonia. Mr. Ilazi talked more about the types of U.S. colleges and universities and his professional experience working with U.S. alumni. Many points of the process of college application which were mentioned were really helpful for the CCC students, especially the tips on recommendation letters, how to answer the very common question” Why do you like to study in the States?” or Why do you choose to study on a certain college?” and what should students expect when they go to study in the States.

On June 11th 2015 the American Corner Bitola/American Educational Center Bitola organized one of the regular meetings for the members of the EducationUSA Competitive College Club Bitola. The guest on this meeting was Marija Iloska, student at Stony Brook University in New York. She shared her experience as an international student and talked more about the new surrounding and her university experience. Ms. Iloska also talked more about her student life in Stony Brook and provided the current CCC members with helpful information about studying in the U.S.