We are coming to the end of presenting the team of Arcus Junior Primary School. It is time to focus our attention on its founder, Tsveta Karaivanova. She is the reason why an institution bringing together tradition and innovation has come to existence.  Tsveta is confident enough to walk in her father’s footsteps, her father being the founder of the American college “Arcus”. Furthermore, she takes it into a new direction, where there is no path. She is making this path trying to offer the best to her children and to the others in our town.  

Tsveta is quite a radiant and joyful person. It is easy to communicate with her as she is both well-grounded and fiery in character, natural in behaviour and almost always smiling, sometimes only with eyes. Her smile is neither fake, nor frozen so we smile back to her. Her depth in feelings and vision can be felt in the way she speaks and can be seen in the way she acts. 

Tsveta holds a Bachelor's degree in "Finances" from Israel and a Master's degree in "Management" from Lugano, Switzerland. After finishing her studies she comes back to Bulgaria and moves to live in Plovdiv when she works in the field of finances. She lived there for 8 years and after having two children she decided to go back to Turnovo so that her family could live in a quieter place. Little by little she realizes the need for an alternative school not only for the children in her hometown but in Bulgaria as a whole. This is how the project of Arcus Junior has been started. 

This is what Tsveta shares with us during our interview with her:

1. What is your motivation to continue the path which your father started?

On one hand I feel responsibility towards all he has created. On the other hand, I have been raised to search meaning in my life and the things which I do. Trying to do that life connected me with people who have similar values and after making a step towards them the path just showed up, crystal clear. In short, I had no choice but to follow this path and it makes me happy.  

2. Do you use alternative approaches in raising your children as a parent?

I think I use them without learning about them formally in the first place. When it comes to education I think it is more important for my kids to grow in a healthy way and develop their emotional intelligence. I think it is a great start for them.

3. What do you prefer doing in your free time?

My close friends joke with me all the time that the popular phrase “JOMO” (joy of missing out) goes for me. And I guess they are right. In the last years I have been avoiding noisy places with a lot of people. As a whole I am picky about my social life and contacts. Whatever I do I try to find meaning there, to be present in the moment.  I get that when I walk in nature with my children, when I read a book, travel or have a lovely evening with good food in the company of my family and closest friends.  

4. Challenges?

As a whole I believe that the challenges are something good. When it comes to our school enterprise the challenge is that the education paradigm of good education is constantly changing. I think it is time to imagine our children like adults standing in front of us and ask ourselves : “What could we do now so that they feel thankful to us for the childhood they had?”  instead of asking the question  “What could we do so that they become successful in life?”.  Childhood is such a special period in life and an adult’s inner strength and endurance start being formed in those years. These are personal qualities which are essential for being compatible and skillful later in life.

5. How do you see the education of the future?

The future starts now. What really matters in today’s world is your portfolio and expertise rather than your marks and diplomas. So, we have different goals to pursue. These are not collecting diplomas but mastering skills. And the other important thing is that to be a resilient person in life you must develop inner balance and emotional intelligence. There are a lot of examples in the world of people taking on high positions at work who can not  deal with their childhood traumas they got in the family or at school. Sometimes these people seek relief in drugs. Everyone has or had a colleague who is an exceptional professional in business but it is difficult to work with simply because he lacks emotional intelligence to get on with the others. In my opinion the education of the future does now lie in big things like AI or robots but comes down to simple things like free play in the early years, developing children’s imagination and creating beautiful memories with their time at school. If we had that every other extra would be a good bonus to add upon.