Back to a Verdure

She came back to her hometown
After such an emerald struggle.
What she left once was brought down,
She had naught to love or ogle.

The day he walked the streets alone
In search of love and laughter.
The day he walked, but twilight came
To find him in the rivers’ chatter.

She heard the waves in their flows sing
Of things one cannot bring back.
The man sensed sorrow deep within,
He wanted to weep and scream in black.

Interview with Ana Jakimska

In a thread posted online by a friend of mine, the newspaper editors agreed that we would make a new addition to our publication: I call it the Hall of Fame, but some disagree. In any case, this section is dedicated to the students who have left NOVA and gone on to have successful careers. Since there is a great deal of those, it was supposed to be difficult to choose a starting point. Not for me. I knew exactly who I’d like to interview: Ana Jakimska.

Being the newbie that I am, I don’t exactly know how things work around here. What I do know is that Ana was nice enough to send me a “welcome to NOVA note” as an Alumnus of the school. After that, we stayed in touch, exchanging the occasional “like” on Facebook, and when this opportunity presented itself, I seized it with both hands. I had heard Ana’s story and I viewed it as one worth sharing. And I knew I’d want to be the one to share it.

We met up in a café in a quiet part of the city. Apparently, the “Lee” café had been a place Ana often went to. In an attempt to begin my first interview as a pseudo-journalist, I asked her if she would prefer if we did the interview in English or in Macedonian. She quickly replied that Macedonian would be the better option for her. Not because she couldn’t speak the language really well, but because the entire heightened reality that we NOVA students live in, that makes Macedonians speak in English among each other outside of school, does not have its charming effect on her. Apparently, it seemed unnatural to do that.

Ana had heard the rumors about NOVA, but chose not to trust them, for she had also heard the incredible possibilities for students who actually wanted to make something out of their lives. One September morning brought her in front of the school, which actually began her story. Ana knew that she wanted to study literature from the very beginning. It is these classes that she cherished above all else. An incredible teacher supported her in all of the challenges she undertook and helped her achieve most of her goals. Still, I am convinced that even without that incentive Ana would have managed to become the impressive person she is today.

When I came to this school for an interview last June, I was asked how I had managed to see past the entire block of prejudice that surrounds the school. I said that I had had the chance to meet an impressive NOVA student. When I mentioned Ana’s name, the other person instantly replied: “Excellent! A marvelous student.” From what I gather, Ana had been involved in an underground publication whose content had been what I would now call “real”. It was aimed at the NOVA students and it was meant to scream an enormous wake-up call at them- to snap them out of the whole “high school illusion”.

However, an unfortunate combination of events rendered her unable to enter the University of Kansas. Therefore, she went to a one-year journalist school that was her “a safety-net school” and then enrolled in the Faculty of Philology in the Department of Comparative Literature at the University of Cyril and Methodius in Skopje. At first, she believed that student life would not be what she’d hoped it would be there after all of the effort she’d put into getting ahead. Still, the curriculum proved to be challenging and the professors pleasant. Students worked in small groups doing exactly what Ana had been hoping to do all her life. However, undertaking new challenges has always been the very core to Ana’s character, which is why she enrolled in the Faculty of Dramatic Arts. Although this discipline is similar to her previous endeavors, it is not exactly the same thing and the approach to a literary piece is extremely different. To me, Ana seems to have grabbed both disciplines and is trying to weave paths between them. For that I tip my hat to her.

I walked home from the interview thinking about her. The entire work she has accomplished up until now is incredible. The entire story that is her life is admirable. I couldn’t help but note that if I had been interviewing her in any of her college interviews I would have fought hardly to make sure she would attend my college. My friend says: “ There are people I like to call my Vorbild (German- role models). I try to shape my behavior according to their choices”. Even though I do not agree with her, I know that with every step I take in the future I will try to shape my conduct in accordance with Ana’s decisions. Successful, impressive, beloved - my own Vorbild.

Stories of a long gone anew

This is the story of Darren. God forbid it ends sadly.

“Good day to you, Darren.”- said Hannah in an obliging manner as he approached the desk. It read: NEW STUDENTS. With an exhausted smile, she found his schedule and handed a few neatly folded pieces of paper to him. “We missed you on Friday.”

“I will tell you all about that, Ma’am, once I have the chance to. For now, I think it would be better if I got to class.”- Darren said, knowing that this wouldn’t come true: hypocrisy was a trait he’d picked up over the summer. He glanced at the schedule: it really was something different. Too little subjects. A bit too often. He’d cope.

The floors had been burnished and the trophy cupboards polished. Darren walked through the hallway quietly observing the city’s crème de la crème in its natural habitat. The girls were… a marvel. Dressed as though this were a fashion show, their perfumes mixed as a couple of them passed by, forcing Darren to turn his head. The guys, on the other hand, were busy looking at their ridiculously expensive cell phones and talking about the new cars their fathers had bought them. This was to be expected, for Darren had come prepared with a little bag of prejudice nicely whipped up by his friends.

Familiar faces passed by as he entered the classroom. With the ring of a bell he was to be found in the back of the classroom. The teacher, a bony-faced, pleasant woman addressed the class- a whole of eight students. She introduced herself and, as usual, wished the students good luck in the new academic year. They would need it. There would be days when they would want to cry and days when they would want to give up. Those would be the two possible choices.

Is it new starts that make us want to adapt? In that moment, Darren was aware of only one fact: another story in his life had begun. The story of sleepless nights, compromises and bloodthirsty competition.

God forbid it ends sadly.