In my role as a health mediator over the past 15 years, I have had the pleasure of working with a variety of institutions and the professionals who represent them – doctors, psychologists, educators, lawyers, and scientists from diverse areas of our public life. People who have overcome all kinds of difficulties to make it. Personalities who inspire you to build on yourself to take your place where you will be useful and serve as an example to others.
I am of Roma origin and come from a poor family. In my childhood, my two sisters and I may have lacked a toy or two, but never support, love, warmth, togetherness and above all moral values. And I dare say I grew up as a decent citizen. We are often thought of as illiterate, thieves and generally people who do harm. I want to break this stereotype of the Roma and show unequivocally that we are not a marginal minority, but an equal and beneficial part of society.
I had a sister teacher who talked about her work with children with such affection and enthusiasm that I would hardly see anything like it in anyone else’s eyes. She was a person of whom I can boldly say, “You hit the mark.” And if she sees me now from heaven, I will make her proud. She motivated me to enroll in pedagogy specifically. From the things she shared about her work as a teacher and how she passed a day with the children, I understood that for her it was not just a service but a love and a professional challenge. Despite the responsibility she took on each day for her children and family, she always found the strength to smile. A unique person with a strong character and a kind heart. She was one of those people who was a support to anyone in need while quietly carrying her own load. I will dedicate my success to this extraordinary person.
And here I am, 32 years old, with a family and two children, in the fourth year of the specialty “Pedagogy of Teaching Bulgarian Language and History” at the Veliko Tarnovo University in Vratsa. I always wanted to study, so I was not satisfied with just my secondary education. But alongside my work as a mediator I was absorbed by the mission to serve as a bridge between the Roma community and the institutions. I started this work right after high school, then I got married, a little later my first girl was born and higher education seemed harder and harder to reach.
While I was considering how to raise funds for my studies, I received a call from Orlin Orlinov from the Inclusive Education Department at the Montana RDE. He told me about the STARS program – “Teacher in my community”. About the opportunity it gives to those who want to develop in the field of education by fully funding the training of participants, offering free extra classes for the more difficult subjects and lessons in English, computer literacy, etc. He asked me to spread the word so that as many people as possible could get involved. I was first, although it sounded too good to be true at the time. I tried and I was not wrong, and three other girls from the Medkovets municipality signed up with me. This opportunity was my ray of light in the tunnel. I’m almost at the end of my studies, but I’m already thinking about the continuation.
I choose the teaching profession because of the satisfaction that what I will leave behind will not be found anywhere but in the minds of the generations after us. I am currently on maternity leave with my second child and I often think about her future and the legacy I will leave as a parent and teacher. It is not tangible, to be broken, erased and lost in the end, but left for a lifetime. It will always be remembered because it provides knowledge and skills that one will always use. The teacher’s payoff is in laying the foundation in building the future personality.
From my training I expect to learn all possible aspects of the teaching method. I consider the approach and attitude of a teacher towards the students to be particularly important, because their knowledge mostly depends on it. In my opinion, a teacher will either make children read and learn with pleasure, or make it so that they never open a book. The key is in the method, and I have had the opportunity to observe some wonderful people who are not only good people, but true professionals at what they do.
The teaching profession is humane just like the medical profession because both require not only knowledge and skills but also soul. You have to be empathetic, understanding, a fair educator, able to communicate with students and predispose them to share both their joys and problems. To be able not just to give of yourself, but to give of yourself. We all work for a paycheck, but most of all we work for the satisfaction of having taught the kids something good and useful today. That’s why I always say that either you were born for your profession or you have to keep searching for your calling. I found it.
