From dreams to reality – the story of a student from PGTO “Dobri Zhelyazkov”, Sliven
“Shared by the Regional Coordinator” section
Today, the regional pedagogical coordinator for the Southeast region Iliya Krachev will introduce you to the story of a girl who is very talented, positive, fighting and purposeful. She can draw, sing, has a strong charisma and motivates the people around her.
We present to you Victoria Yordanova, 16 years old, lives in the village of Gergevets, commune. Sliven, a student in the 11th grade at the “Dobri Zhelyazkov” Vocational High
School for Textiles and Clothing, Sliven. She has won many competitions over the years, which contributes to her confidence, self-assertion and positive attitude towards life. In 2019, he won the national essay contest “Ambassador for a day” and took on the role of ambassador at the German embassy.
He says that the experience of meeting the diplomats was incredible and unique, as well as very motivating. He also won several school drawing competitions. In 2022, he will take part in the Erasmus+ project “Let the sun shine in our schools”.
I met Victoria at an event held in the city of Sliven as part of the school program “Meetings with prominent community representatives” at the “Dobri
Zhelyazkov” Vocational High School for Textiles and Clothing, where she was the host of the program and later sang shoulder side by side with the singer Roxana. Her singing talent did not go unnoticed by everyone present in the hall, for which she received thunderous applause.
In our conversation, she shared with me her big dream and goal for the future – after finishing high school, to go on to university and study law. She wants to be legally literate, to know her rights, to protect people and to have ambitions for many girls of Roma origin to continue studying, not to make the mistake of early marriage and pregnancy, to show others that 
they can develop and prove themselves in society. She is an example for her peers at school, for her friends and pride for her family and relatives. She is very communicative, does not hesitate to speak in front of an audience and is looking forward to enrolling in the University of Veliko Tarnovo “St. St. Cyril and Methodius”.
Author: Iliya Krachev, Regional Pedagogical Coordinator
The “Every student will excel” network includes 287 educational institutions from all over the country that have united in achieving the goals of the Amalipe Center program and supported by the Trust for a Social Alternative. The goals include: dropout prevention and retention of all students in school, increasing the number of reintegrated/re-enrolled children, increasing the number of Roma adults involved in forms of lifelong learning, significantly increasing the percentage of Roma youth, who continue their education in secondary schools/high schools, active involvement of parents in school life.