CityU Bulgaria students mobilize

By Tara Ballenger

Velocity Contributor

When searching for a university in her home country of Bulgaria, Veselina Doncheva investigated schools offering an international experience. Still, the 22-year-old wasn’t ready to study abroad. When Doncheva learned of City University of Seattle in Bulgaria — a global university with English-speaking instructors right in her backyard — she found the perfect fit.

“I was a little bit afraid to study abroad, so when I saw a City University of Seattle advertisement, I knew this would be my university,” says Doncheva, who spent a few semesters in Bulgaria before she made a decision to visit the U.S.

Today, she’s one of seven Bulgarian business students enrolled in CityU’s Mobility Program - an opportunity for those from global sites to study for one quarter at the Bellevue site. As an incentive, students pay the tuition rate of their home country. For European students, that’s about 70 percent less when compared to the U.S. standard rate. U.S. students also are welcome to participate in the program if they choose to study abroad.

Since its spring quarter start in 2006, the Mobility Program has brought about 60 students to the U.S. Many are business majors from Bulgaria and Slovakia but some originate from other countries, including Greece and the Czech Republic, says International Student Office Director Sabine Saway.

Following their recent arrival to Bellevue, the Bulgarian students have used free time to explore Seattle and its environs.

Pavel Tsonev, a 21-year-old general management major, described his first impressions of Bellevue and Seattle as “peaceful and clean.” Without the program’s reduced tuition rate, Tsonev says study abroad wasn’t an option.

“It is quite expensive to come and study in the U.S.,” Tsonev says. “It was the Mobility Program that made it possible for me to come and experience a different culture.”

For European students - many of whom attend CityU full-time - the classroom experience is a huge draw.

“The professors in the U.S. expect a lot of participation and interaction and there are a lot of a questions,” Saway says. “The students are really involved in the learning process.”

Students this quarter also say they’re here in the U.S. to improve their English and meet people.

“I enrolled because I wanted to gain some international experience,” says Vassil Georgiev, a 21-year-old general management major. “It is exciting to travel around the world and study.”

Adds Doncheva, “This is my first time here and I am really impressed by the huge buildings and people who are smiling all the time.”

While the International Student Office does not provide housing for incoming students, Saway helps steer them to affordable Bellevue apartments. Many mobility students become roommates to reduce expenses. CityU also holds an orientation on cultural differences and challenges and take mobility students on a Seattle field trip.

For some students, the experience of studying business in the U.S. has left them with a lot to consider as they continue with their careers.

“If I have the opportunity to come and work in the U.S. in the future, I will most likely accept the offer,” Tsonev says.

Georgiev also isn’t closing the door on relocating to the U.S. He hopes to use his CityU education to start a business someday.

“I consider it a possibility,” he says. “And I still have plenty of time to decide.”

For more information about the Mobility Program, please contact Sabine Saway at 425-709-5308.