Vladimir Kotovski

Vladimir says what worried him before starting AUBG was the competition at the university and the thought of other people being smarter. But during orientation week, he got a different impression: “The good thing about AUBG we learned in diversity training is that everybody starts from one and the same starting point.”

Although this 19-year-old freshman is interested in both computer science and information systems, when asked why he doesn’t major in both, he says: “Honestly, I don’t want to start hating computers at this point.”

Vladimir’s biggest hobbies are video games and everything that has to do with them. He even initially considered game development and concept art as possible careers. He also likes to do things connected to computer science and information systems outside of the curriculum and has a big library of electronic books that he got from a friend of his, whom he met in a game.

Vladimir was born and raised in the city of Blagoevgrad, where the campus of AUBG is located. He says that living off-campus doesn’t make it harder to get to know people, which was a concern of his at first. “It’s really a matter of getting past your comfort zone as soon as possible,” he says.

He attended the Foreign Language High School Academic Lyudmil Stoyanov, and it is also one of the main reasons he enrolled in this university. Even before being an AUBG student, he was an unofficial member of the club Toastmasters, which no longer exists. However, he is now a part of the newly-founded Fitness Club.

Vladimir says he found the transition from high school to university abrupt. However, what he thinks is very useful is the tutoring offered by AUBG, which helped him improve his grades for the current semester.

Vladimir says that in order to understand him better, people should know that even though he comes off as sociable, he feels as though he’s better off on his own. He classifies himself as an ambivert, a person who likes to socialize but also lives in his own world.

When asked what he thinks would be the same and what would have changed in his senior year as compared to now, Vladimir says: “Honestly, I hope what would stay the same is from starting to graduating, not losing anybody. And what would have changed is the whole mindset of looking at things.”

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Mihaela Miteva is a sophomore, majoring in Journalism and Mass Communication. She’s interested in interviewing people and hearing their stories.