EducationUSA Competitive College Club (CCC) Macedonia

READY, SET, PREP! On the 19th of June - 19th of July, our CCC graduate Mimi Filova, incoming freshmen at NYU Abu Dhabi, helped prep sessions on the SAT standardized test. The SAT is a crucial test that students from Macedonia, and the world have to take in order to apply to US higher education institutions. Given the importance of this test, we in CCC Bitola give the utmost importance to taking this exam prepared and with confidence, in order to enable us, the members greater opportunities in our future education. Having such a crucial role, every summer the CCC organizes SAT prep sessions, usually helped by an alumni, is taken very seriously by our members. Most of the sessions were interactive and included an active engagement during the entire prep session These sessions were recorded so our current and future CCC students can review the content in the future.

THE GREATEST SHOW AND TELL ON EARTH! Part science fair, part county fair, and part something entirely new, Maker Faire is an all-ages gathering of tech enthusiasts, crafters, educators, tinkerers, hobbyists, engineers, science clubs, authors, artists, students, and commercial exhibitors. All of these “makers” come to Maker Faire to show what they have made and to share what they have learned. Macedonia’s first Maker Faire, The Bitola Mini Maker Faire, brought a global movement of makers, inventors, creators, artists, scientists & technology enthusiasts to Bitola with the express purpose of awakening research and exploration, encouraging curiosity, joy, and discovery, and promoting the free flow of ideas, knowledge & experience in our community and around the world. This single day event happened on Friday, May 11 2018, in Bitola. It featured makers from maker spaces in Macedonia and, technology, research and science centres from across Macedonia, as well

EducationUSA in Macedonia and the U.S. Embassy Macedoniao rganised the EducationUSA Fair of Higher Education in the United States of America, which was held in Skopje on April 19th, 2018. Representatives from great American colleges and universities visited Ljubljana, Zagreb, Sarajevo, Podgorica, Belgrade, Skopje and Prishtina as a part of EducationUSA Southeast European Tour organized the fifth year in a row. Representatives of higher education institutions will be present at the Fair in Skopje where they answered students questions about their academic programs for undergraduate and graduate studies, as well as opportunities for scholarships and financial aid. The fair was held at Marriott Hotel, Skopje on April 19th, 2018 from 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM. Participation in the fair was free, but students had to register online, or on site. Our CCC members from all over Macedonia had a chance to get a behind the scenes look at the event and later helped their peers register for the eve

Ana and Marija are our new CCC ambassadors! A new role for returning CCC members this year is the CCC ambassador. This task requires the ambassadors to run the club and its day to day tasks, including reminders, keeping track and making the schedule, and so on. Their role is also to report to our Education USA advisor and learn from her. The creation of such a role is a beginning of the Competitive College Club Bitola's long term goals for self-sustainability which will allow the club to function as much independently as possible in the future.

On November 30, American Corner Bitola, the U.S. Embassy in Macedonia and the University " St. Kliment Ohridski" Bitola organized for the first time in Bitola an International Education Fair. The main reason for creating this Fair was the celebration of the two year long formal cooperation between American Corner Bitola, the U.S. Embassy and the University " St. Kliment Ohridski" Bitola.  The Fair welcomed around 180 young people from Bitola and the region, including high school and college students, young professionals, parents as well as high school and college teachers. In addition, this Fair gathered in one place all relevant institutions and organizations that actively work on youth involvement and engagement in international projects and programs such as: - U.S. Embassy in Macedonia - UKLO's Office for International cooperation - UKLO's Career Center KREDO - The French Alliance - The French Institute - YMCA Bitola - SFERA Bitola - IAESTE B

Celebrating international education On  November 15, 2017 as part of the 2017 International Education Week, the American Corner Bitola/EducationUSA Center Bitola organized a presentation on the topic: "U.S. Campus life" with Xeno W. Carpenter-New, DePauw University. Mr. Carpenter-New talked to the attending students about his experience being undergraduate student at DePauw University and also coming back to his school and working with Campus Life and Community Development Office. On November 16th, Ms. Julia Quan, a Fulbright scholar at the Faculty of Education in Bitola, led an interactive presentation about her college years at University of Alabama and university experience in the United States in general. Ms. Quan shared with the attendees what is like to be part of large university, its campus, classes, structure, social life and sorority culture. The high school students from the "Josip Broz Tito" high school in Bitola, from the English Class

September, 2017 For the first time in Macedonia, Jake Amble joined us as our CCC e-Intern to help us out with his experience on our College Application journey. Jake will host CCC meetings online, via skype, contributing with talks on the application process in the US, his personal tips and strategies, talk about college life and discuss classic books, that most American high school students read, with the book club. This move shows that EducationUSA is committed to providing better support to Macedonian students wishing to study in the US, and solidifies CCC Bitola as a regional centre that provides support to a wide range of Macedonian students in the south, Reaching from Struga to Gevgelija,

August 21-24, 2017 Starting from August 21, 2017 until August 24, 2017 the five American Corners in Macedonia joined for its seventh annual Summer Camp, this year in Krushevo. This year the camp was a combination of two great goals: innovation and technology as part of the Maker movement; and Essay writing as part of EducationUSA Competitive College Club program. Twenty-five participants ages 15 – 18, from all over Macedonia had an opportunity to join the ACM Staff in celebrating creativity, learning, and friendship.

“My Story – How I got into Columbia University”  -Edita Bytyqi On July 20th, Edita Bytyqi, an incoming freshman at Columbia University talked at the American Corner Bitola, about her experience applying to the U.S. as an international student in her presentation called “My Story – How I got into Columbia University”. She talked to the students about the process of applying to various universities, the potential difficulties and challenges they might face, and stressed what could be the most important parts of the students’ applications. She talked about her passion towards chemistry and chemical engineering, her decision to apply to Columbia, and various extracurricular activities she was involved in. She encouraged the students to take initiative, create their opportunities and work on the SAT test for their future college applications.

"Any good deed for the sake of others can change the world.” — Habitat volunteer Shota Taguchi Competitive College Club students from all over Macedo nia led by the EducationUSA advisers Biljana and Olgica and AC Shtip coordinator Marija volunteered at the Habitat for Humanity Macedonia!  Everyone was very excited to spend the day working on a new construction site in Veles and to learn how Habitat helps millions of people around the world gain access to affordable housing financing and eventually help building better communities.