We held a writing contest with our sister school in Bulgaria, the American College of Sofia. These are the runner-ups; the winner will be published in the paper next week.
Academics + fun = our lives at ACS
Every year, the 15th of September marks off the end of another unforgettable summer and the beginning of a new school year that will lead us in a new direction towards a new goal and hopefully, a new success. It’s just 8 a.m., but the green school grounds are already crowded, and wherever you turn, you see hugging friends who are excitedly talking over each other about all the places they have been to in the months apart. The spirit of summer still lingers in the air, and there is not a single cloud on the sky to mar the perfect day.
The day’s events begin with the introductory ceremony of the 8th graders, the youngest students at ACS, and following an old Bulgarian tradition, all the older students throw carrots at the inexperienced young “preps”, who are stepping into an adventure filled with obstacles and difficulties. Freshmen are excited as they are no longer the youngest ones, and they often sneak a peek at their “descendants” to evaluate them. The school year has now officially begun.
Every year, the students in each grade level get divided into eight groups, called sections. The roughly twenty people in your section are the ones you will have all of your classes with throughout the next ten months. There is always a great level excitement as the students wait for the lists to come out, and they are all crossing fingers to be with their best friends, and not with people they do not really know.
The first weeks pass in a haze as everybody tries to get accustomed to the things that are new. For the freshmen specifically, this first semester is extremely difficult. After studying only a handful of subject in the preparation year, they desperately try to cope with the fifteen classes they are now taking. Alissar Riachi, 9th grade, says, “I really thought that it would be somewhat easier this year, but as I soon found out, I was wrong!” Similarly, Geno Ganevski, also in 9th grade, shares that he “did not really believe that it would be that hard up until the moment the teachers started saying how many difficult things we are going to study.”
Slowly, things fall into place. The days grow into weeks, and the weeks grow into months. Rainy autumn afternoons replace the lazy summer days, and before you know it, the final days of October have arrived with another spooky Halloween. Although this is not a holiday traditionally celebrated in Bulgaria, ACS organizes a number of entertaining events. The students dress up in creative costumes, and the 8th graders even have their own little competition between the sections. The day’s events culminate with the Halloween party that takes place in the afternoon on school grounds. The music is really loud, and there is a lot of dancing. Basically, as Blagovest Tschasovnikarov, 9th grade, says, “it is a great place, where people have fun.”
After Halloween, the students begin to count the days to the Winter Break. As November passes, you can almost begin to sense Christmas in the air. There are people in the hallways humming “Jingle Bells”, and the musical crew is preparing fiercely for the upcoming Christmas concert. Finally, the long-awaited day arrives.
Unfortunately, as always, the vacation ends up being too short for all the things that we want to do, and when we come back to school, we immediately need to start carefully preparing for the final exams that are scheduled to be in just a few short weeks. The 9th grader Blagovesta Dimitrova defines that period of time as being tiresome. On the other hand, her friend Alissar Riachi shares that “in addition to feeling nervous, [she] also felt hyperactive and excited as the new semester would be kind of a new beginning.”
With the first half of the school year done, everyone starts to look forward to the summer vacation. The cold winds slowly turn into warm breezes, and the blazing sun pushes away the rain and freezing snow. The days pass more quickly, and the final quarter of the school year slowly arrives. Sandra Rangelova, 9th grade, says that she eagerly waits for the last days, and Blagovesta Dimitrova shares that she is going to do her best to “forget all about school” during the summer months.
Another year has slipped by, and the time for sunbathing on the beach and hiking in the mountains is slowly arriving. Our life at ACS, although filled with difficulties and pressure, is unique and always full with excitement.
- By Vanessa Angelova
