Varbinka Slavova – student in the program Game Dev Fundamentals

How does ARC keep young people staying in Bulgaria? Varbinka had plans to study abroad until she found ARC Academy and began her education in the academy. Now she is more than sure that the right place for her development is in Bulgaria. Learning to be responsible and independent, Varbinka applies the knowledge from ARC Academy in her school projects, and like other ARC students – she likes drawing.

Introduce yourself. Tell us what is your occupation at the moment (your hobbies, favorite animals). In which program do you study at ARC Academy?

I am Varbinka, I’m 18 years old and I am from Plovdiv. I study in the Game Dev Fundamentals program. It’s my final year in school and I am struggling with the creation of an animated short film. It is a school project in which I try to apply things that I learned in ARC. I take advantage of the situation now to dedicate myself to painting as much as I can, I try to enrich my general culture with all sorts of interesting facts. My favorite things are my cat Matza, everything that is blue, as well as cooking.

Why did you choose to enroll in the program?

I had decided that I wouldn’t stay in Bulgaria after graduating from high school.  The main reason was that none of the options here satisfied my desires for development. When I first visited the website of ARC and started reading about the academy, everything sounded too good to be true. However, as the assignment for the scholarship competition was really interesting for me, I decided to try. The way I think has changed a lot and I am very happy that I can stay in Bulgaria, knowing that there is no compromise with my education.

What lessons have you learned at ARC Academy?

I have learned to be more responsible and independent. I could say that I grew up with ARC, I got a realistic idea of the “world of adults”. I was on the right track with the goals I set, I saw the necessary tools to achieve them not only in technical aspects but also in the way of thinking. ARC motivated me and made me very positive, even online, when I didn’t have the opportunity to attend lectures and made me want to develop and love drawing more and more every second.

Describe your favorite lecture? 

I can’t choose which one lecture is my favorite- Life drawing or Visual Development. I love both but I will tell you about the lecture of Life drawing because I attended it more often. During the class we draw and sometimes Bilyana- our teacher, surprises us with unusual and fun twists of our assignments. In general, we start with short poses of 30/45 seconds and gradually reach a few minutes. We have models to whom we sometimes give strange and difficult poses, but they never complain. Oppositely, they laugh with us.

You recently switched to online learning. What do you think about it? Do you think that in the future the education will be entirely online? 

I think that online education is the most optimal decision for this situation and I believe that it will be a good addition to traditional lectures in the future. But I don’t think that it could completely replace it, at least for some of the classes is best to be physically present.

What are your classmates like and do you work easily with them?

They are really cool, always positive, and ready to learn something new. They are really motivated young people who would always help you. I am really lucky to know them!