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American Corner Bitola International Education Week 2012
N E W S L E T T E R Thursday, November 13th
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Launching the Competitive College Club:
On November 13th 2012, as part of the International Education week 2012, the American
Corner/American Educational Center Bitola had the pleasure to organize a presentation of the
highly successful EducationUSA project called “Competitive College Club”. CCC is a well-
known global project in the EducationUSA
network of around 400 advising centers. The
American Educational Center Bitola
launches this program for the students from
Bitola and the region for the first time in
Macedonia in order to assist the best and the
brightest students to have an improved
chance at admissions to a U.S. college or
university. The participants, 1st, 2nd and 3rd
year high school students were introduced
with the concept of the CCC and were
shown of the results of CCC in many other
countries. The application for the CCC at the
American Educational Center Bitola is now open to students in grades 9-12 of any nationality,
ethnicity and economic background.
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International Virtual College Fair:
The American Corner /American Educational Center Bitola on November 13th 2012 were part of
the 2012 International Virtual College Fair hosted by the U.S. State Department. This free 24-
hour event visited by more than 21,000 participants worldwide, provided everything
international students need to know about studying in the U.S. by meeting admissions
representatives from more than 150 universities, including panel of international students talking
about life at a U.S. university, getting advice from U.S. State Department officials and
EducationUSA experts about choosing the
right university, understanding the U.S.
higher education system, getting into your
school of choice, obtaining financial aid,
and more.
More than 100 students from Bitola and
the region visited the American
Educational Center to follow three
presentations: the “Discover U.S. Higher
Education”, “International Students Share
their Experience” and “Graduate
Admissions and Funding”. Most of the students also
had an opportunity to watch the live stream
presentations on a projection screen, moderated by
ACBitola Staff and some of them had the
opportunity to log in to the official
College Fair web page and via chat
to ask different questions.
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November 14th
BFTF presentation
The American Corner Bitola/American Corner
Bitola
Educational Center Staff together with Mr.
Gazmend Ilazi, Education Affairs Assistant –
U.S. Embassy Macedonia, on November 14th
2012, visited one class of second and fourth year
students in the local high school Josip Broz- Tito
in Bitola. This visit, as part of the International
Education Week 2012, intended to introduce the
students with the ongoing activities of the
ACB/AEC and to promote The Benjamin
Franklin Transatlantic Summer Institute 2013.
“The U.S. Department of State is offering
Scholarships for high school students from
Macedonia to attend the 2013 Benjamin Franklin Transatlantic Summer Institute” - said Mr. Ilazi
and also explained the details about this wonderful program. This was a great opportunity for the
30 high school students to gather information on what an exceptional and unique experience the
BFTF is.
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Outreach at the Faculty of Education in Bitola:
The American Corner/American Educational Center Bitola on November 14th 2012, as part of
the series of events dedicated to the International Education Week, visited the Faculty of
Education. Mr. Jonas Hogg, U.S. Embassy Macedonia Intern, the guest speaker on this event,
talked to the 50 attending students
from first, second and year
students of English Language and
Literature about his experience
being a Master student and the
process of applying to a U.S.
graduate school. Mr. Hogg gave
the students an example of how
Master's degree students
specialize in a field or a subject.
“Depending on the subject,
courses may be quite formal,
consisting primarily of lecture
presentations by faculty members,
or they may be relatively
informal, placing emphasis on
discussion and exchange of ideas
among faculty and students. Seminars involve smaller groups of students than lecture courses,
and students may be required to make presentations as well as participate in discussions.” – said
Mr. Hogg during his presentation. A master's degree is a complete graduate academic degree
program and students study coursework more
advanced than during undergraduate
studying. Mr. Hogg also talked about the
class size and the coursework as well as
about the importance of class participation,
research papers, and examinations. At the
end of the discussion, the students got
various promotional materials from the
Corner and the Center along with additional
information about the IEW 2012 programs
organized by at the American Corner Bitola.
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U.S. Embassy Educational Exchange Opportunities:
The American Corner/American Educational Center Bitola on November 14th 2012 organized a
“U.S. Embassy Educational Exchange Opportunities” presentation with Mr. Gazmend Ilazi,
Education Affairs Assistant - U.S.
Embassy Macedonia and Mr. Jonas
Hogg, U.S. Embassy Macedonia
Intern. The presentation took place at
the Small Hall of Center of Culture –
Bitola where the audience had an
opportunity to learn more about the
educational exchange opportunities
that the U.S. Embassy offers for
Macedonian citizens. The Fulbright
Student Program, Fulbright Senior
Program, Fulbright Scholar Program,
Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship
Program, Study of the United States
Institutes (SUSI), Junior Faculty
Development Program, Youth Exchange and Study (YES
Program) and Benjamin Franklin Transatlantic Fellowship were
the programs that were explained in details to the university
students and professors that were present on this event.
The U.S. Embassy intern Jonas Hogg was also presenting
about his graduate experience and all the necessary steps
that the prospective students should complete in order to
become U.S. graduate students.
The event was covered by the local
TV stations TV TERA and TV
Orbis.
The event was covered by local TV stations: TV
Tera & TV Orbis
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American Educational Center Open Days:
As part of the International Educational Week 2012, on November 13th and 14th American
Educational Center/American Corner Bitola organized Open Day events on two locations on
Shirok Sokak. This was another activity through which the American Educational
Center/American Corner Bitola promoted its ongoing and future activities. For that purpose two
stands were put up: first one in
the most frequent place at
Shirok Sokak in which the
materials for taking the TOEFL
test, the SAT and the GRE were
presented. At this stand the
citizens of Bitola had the
chance to find information
about the programs for studying
in America and the process for
a successful application
completion. At the second stand
on the “Goce Delchev” square,
promotional materials of the
Corner such as magazines,
brochures, books were
displayed. Also at this stand the
passer-buys had a chance to
become members at the American
Corner and get their membership
cards. Besides the displaying of
the promotional materials,
various events and programs
which marked the International
Educational week 2012 that were
held at the American Educational
Center Bitola were also
promoted.
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November 15th
Being a graduate student in the U.S. - The Know How
As part of the International Education Week 2012, the American Educational Center/American
Corner Bitola hosted the Skype talk event “Being a graduate student in the U.S – The Know
How” with Dr. Judith Pennywell –
Executive Director of International
Programs at Perdue and Nevenka
Stefanovska– former AC Skopje Staff and a
current Communication Graduate Student at
the same University. Twenty-five high
school and undergraduate students attended
this presentation and had the amazing
opportunity to learn more about the process
of finding the right university as well as the
process of applying to the U.S. colleges and
universities. Ms. Pennywell was very kind
to explain to the participants the
opportunities that international students have at U.S. universities as well as the various specifics
of the undergrad and grad academic and social life in the U.S. Nevenka talked more about her
current experience as a graduate student and all the challenges she faces in the process of
adjusting to the new environment. But besides all the challenges, it was very obvious from
Nevenka’s example that finding the best fit when applying to U.S. universities will definitely
contribute a lot to one’s success as
an international student in the
U.S. During the presentation,
various questions were asked and
the participants received their
answers and all the necessary
information from the great
presenters. We thank Nevenka for
organizing this event for the
Macedonian students and for
inviting Ms. Pennywell to be part
of the IEW 2012 events organized
at the AC Bitola.
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Preparing a successful Fulbright Application:
The American Corner/American Educational Center
Bitola on November 15th 2012 organized another
successful presentation as part of the International
Education Week titled “Preparing a successful Fulbright
application” with Shengjull Osmani, a Fulbright grantee.
The Fulbright Program was established in 1946 under
legislation introduced by former Senator J. William
Fulbright of Arkansas. The Fulbright Program is
administered by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural
Affairs of the United States Department of State. It
awards approximately 8,000 new grants annually, and
operates in 155 countries around the world. The aim of
the presentation was to help future applicants to get more
information about the process of applying and the
application form itself. The presentation lasted for an hour
where Mr. Osmani was very kind and helpful to answer
all the questions that the audience had.
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November 16th
Model United Nations presentation
The AC Bitola and the AEC Bitola hosted the presentation “Model United Nations” together
with PCV Sara Christopher and Marija Dimovska. During this presentation the interested
participants from the high schools in Bitola had an opportunity to learn more about the concept
of the simulations of the Model
United Nations and the success
they achieved in Macedonia in
the previous years on their final
Conferences. Also, having
students who already had
previous experience as
members of the Model United
Nations simulation among the
attendees of this presentation
contributed to having a more
complete overview of this
program. Immediately after the
presentation the participants
showed interest to become part
of this year’s MUN
simulations so PCV Sara
Christopher had individual
talks with everyone about
how to get information for
the next round of Model
UN.
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Graduate Study in the U.S. with Tips for GRE success
The International Education Week
2012 was rounded with the
presentation about “Graduate
studies in the U.S. with tips for
GRE success” by PCV Hana
Truscott which took place on
November 16th at the AC Bitola.
During this presentation the
participants had an opportunity to
hear more about the graduate
studies in the U.S. from PCV
Hana Truscott who is currently a
graduate student. After explaining
more about the studies PCV Truscott put a light on the GRE test which is one of the
requirements for the applicants for graduate studies. Amazingly useful information was shared
and everyone had an opportunity to learn more about the technical aspects concerning the test. It
was explained that there are two versions of the test- written and electronic, and Hana also
mentioned the multiple locations in
Macedonia and the neighborhood
countries where it can be taken. The
participants asked different questions
concerning the classes, the practical
work and the concept of this kind of
studies in the U.S.
Besides the various presentations about
the undergraduate studies in the U.S.,
this presentation, together with the
previous two presentations dedicated on
the graduate studies with the Perdue
University graduate student Nevenka
Stefanovska and the Fulbright program
presentation by Shengjull Osmani, was a
successful effort of AC Bitola/AEC Bitola to give a close look to the graduate studies
possibilities in the U.S. PCV Truscott.
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Closing remarks:
Starting with the Virtual College Fair with more than 150 universities participating in it, and
continuing with the U.S. Embassy guest speakers and the people who have already been to some
of the U.S. exchange programs or universities in order to share their experience and impressions,
the AEC Bitola completed its task in successfully celebrate and contribute to the IEW 2012.
Having more than 200 people taking part in the International Education Week 2012 at the
American Educational Center Bitola was a great way for the AEC Bitola and the American
Corner Bitola to promote their Education USA activities and programs and to wake up the
interest for the educational opportunities in the U.S. amongst the young people and professional
from Bitola and the region.
The AC Bitola would also like to thank all the presenters who took part at the International
Education Week 2012.
Some of the events were covered by the local TV stations in Bitola. To watch the video reports
from the IEW 2012 events and activities please visit the following links:
Link 1
Link 2
Link 3
Link 4
To see the photo gallery of the IEW 2012 at the American Educational Center Bitola, please
click on the following links:
Link 1
Link 2
Link 3
Link 4
For more information please visit AC Bitola’s Facebook fan page