Engage 1000 Bulgarian students in public speaking

Dear friends of BEST,

On April 16th and 17th BEST Foundation held its National Tournament for the 2021-2022 academic year in hybrid format. Participants, judges and volunteers gathered both at the AUBG campus in Blagoevgrad, as well as online. This was the first time since the start of the pandemic that most of the community members met in person! The national tournament is attended by any students who reached semifinals or finals in our regional tournaments, as well as the top six debate teams. We had over 200 young adults from all over Bulgaria participate in five categories: Original Oratory, Duo Interpretation, Prose Interpretation, Poetry Interpretation and World Schools Debate. Feedback and rankings were provided to the students by 60 volunteer judges who come from different educational and professional backgrounds and who dedicated their entire weekend for the event. The students, their coaches, judges and volunteers demonstrated extraordinary perseverance and flexibility under adverse circumstances, in addition to exemplary creativity, hard work, and talent.

Despite the removal of many Covid related restrictions across the nation, we at BEST decided to keep some measures such as implementing the green pass policy, as well as encouraging participants to wear masks indoors. Also each participation room had air purifiers and was disinfected regularly. These measures insured the health and safety of our community and no reported health issues.

We were extremely happy to finally meet the majority of our community in person, after what was a challenging period for us all. Ms. Rodel, Executive Director of Fulbright Bulgaria, who attended the competition as a volunteer judge, said: “I have been judging since 2015 and I think this year is especially powerful because we are in the midst of such adverse circumstances. It’s easy to feel discouraged and disappointed and to feel like nothing matters… But everytime I come, I see your performances, I hear your voices, I see you and think- this is incredible! Thank you for giving me this hit of hope!”

Students’ performances discussed issues and concepts important to them such as: art, love, sisterhood, sexual abuse, political awareness and more. We are proud to provide a platform for free expression where students feel safe and encouraged to talk about issues that matter to them. This year’s small team award was given to team PMG Sandanski Gotse Delchev and large team award to Lyudmil Stoyanov FLH in Blagoevgrad.

To be able to see top student performances live, you can register at the following link. The show will be on a Sunday so you can enjoy your brunch/dinner and be able to vote for your favorite performance by donating a small amount. Can't wait to see you there!

Thank you for your continuous support and we wish you a wonderful rest of your summer!