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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