I got married at the age of 16, but despite that I went on to study and completed my secondary education alongside my peers. Times are changing and so is our worldview. If until recently a woman’s role was to stay at home and take care of the children, today the responsibilities in the home are shared and the professional satisfaction of both parents is equally important.
With the creation of a family comes the thought of the future, and for a mother there is nothing more important than providing good living conditions and professional development for her children. I live in a small town where fulfillment is difficult in general and unthinkable without education. That is why four years ago I embraced the opportunity to enroll to study at the Veliko Tarnovo University branch in Vratsa, when I learned about the scholarship offered by the Roma Education Fund for students and the project of the Trust for Social Alternative to support future Roma educators.
Today I am 30 with two wonderful children aged 12 and 8, I have passed my state exams and look forward to graduating and then hopefully enrolling in a Master’s program. My major is Preschool and Elementary School Pedagogy, and the potential for advancement in this field is huge. For the third year I am also working as an educational mediator in the 6th school “Otets Paisii” in Montana under the program “Support for Success”. There are several girls and boys in the school who are family, but attend all classes regularly and I encourage their diligence daily to stay in school until the end of the school cycle. I believe my mission is to motivate the young people I work with to keep their education going and I always set an example for them with my personal story.
My early marriage did not prevent me from completing my secondary education, nor did it stop me on my way to a graduate degree. My husband has always supported me to develop myself personally and professionally because he understands how important it is to show our children that we Roma can achieve on an equal footing with everyone in Bulgaria.
I have accepted the students into our school as part of our family and accompany them to the polyclinic when needed, help them fill out paperwork and teach them how to use social media. Alongside my work as an educational mediator, I actively participate in activities and workshops aimed at the integration and development of the Roma community. To my family, I am the most stubborn, hardworking and fighting woman they have ever met, and I am proud of them and would not want to disappoint them for a moment. On the contrary, with my tireless employment and zeal for learning, I hope to motivate my children to qualify in the professions they dream of.
At university I studied the intricacies of pedagogy and teaching methods that will be extremely useful in my future profession. I would like to work as a kindergarten or school teacher to help children and their parents realize how education is a stake for the future of us all. My desire is to share with them not only the knowledge and experience I have gained, but also the satisfaction I feel from a job well done during my four years at the university, because I believe a good and well-deserved self-esteem is especially needed in our community. And I can safely say that I am proud of myself and all that I have achieved so far.
