Arklejda Oshafi

There are many students at AUBG who like drawing and writing as a hobby. However, a few of them consider becoming an animator and Arklejda Oshafi is one of them. “It’s really interesting concepts and what messages they want to send,” the blond Albanian girl with a wide smile says. Arklejda wants to send powerful messages through animation. She thinks that computer science major will help her in it, but she is not quite sure about her second major. “There are more programs to make animation and it’s easier to do it when you know technology better,” she says. Even though she has never tried making animation before, she is open to new challenges.

Arklejda learned how to snowboard herself in Macedonia during winter when she was in the ninth grade. She was motivated to do it and she succeeded in it. “It was something I actually did on my own and had control over,” she says. In her free time she wants to learn how to play an instrument, especially a guitar.

In addition to being adventurous, she is a modest person. She does not want to get anyone angry. She used to have a close friend in high school, but the relationship became toxic for her. She made Arklejda feel like her opinion and she, herself, did not matter. Arklejda though that the difference between them would make their friendship stronger, but they set apart. She wishes they could have worked it out or end it. However, she learned to stand for herself. “I learned that sometimes you have to take care of yourself and talk for yourself,” she says.

Arklejda seems to be a very practical person. Between the abilities to fly or be invisible, she chooses flying. As she says she feels quite invisible now, but she wants people to know that she is there for them. She sees flying not as up high in the sky, but as a levitation five centimeters from the ground. “I think that levitating from the ground is also flying, or like jumping in the air. Idea of not having to walk,” she says.

As a first-year student, she also struggles from homesickness. She feels more homesick than sophomores, juniors and seniors in general. Arklejda is a family person and being raised for 18 years by her parents, she finds it difficult to be apart from them. However, she has hope in the future that it will get easier. “We are more used to being with them. So, I know it won’t be easy, but I assume it is going to be easier next year,” Arklejda says.

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Nino Kutubidze is a political science student at AUBG. She found the parts of the interview of a first-year student relatable to her freshman year.