SPEECH OF ASSOC.PROF. KRASIMIR NEDYALKOV, PHD - PRESIDENT OF VFU “CHERNORIZETS HRABAR”, AT THE OPENING OF THE 2022 / 2023 ACADEMIC YEAR
27 September 2022
Speech of Assoc. Prof. Dr. Krasimir Nedyalkov, PhD - President of Varna Free University "Chernorizets Hrabar", at the opening of the 2022 / 2023 academic year:
Dear students,
Dear guests,
Dear lecturers, employees and partners of Varna Free University,
Dear Parents,
Today, we start the2022/2023 academic year. Although the opening ceremony is repeated every year, it is actually a new beginning for all of us. For our Alma Mater - the beginning of the fourth decade of its establishment. For the first-year students – a first meeting with the new orbit of their life and development. For the lecturers and employees - new challenges to defend their vocation and raise to a higher level the assumed responsibility to create and educate knowledgeable, bold and responsible people.
Dear Partners of the University,
Politicians come and go, but our position as parties interested in the education process remains an eternal hope for the future. An eternal value that the giant of the written word Ivan Vazov turned into a symbol, sitting 125 years ago in the chair of the Minister of Education.
On this day, it is customary to deliver solemn speeches, and I will emphasise that the upcoming academic year raises well-ground hopes. For the academic community of Varna Free University, this day is special because the university has opened its doors for the 31st time in a row to welcome its first-year students.
Today, you cross the threshold of our university filled with the same strong feelings of excitement as those of our first students 30 years ago, but with new expectations and hopes. And we are confident that we can respond to them. Today, our university is dynamically developing, academically connected in national and international scientific networks and, last but not least, an attractive educational centre for students from all over the world. VFU "Chernorizets Hrabar" stands out on the map of higher education in our country and in Europe with its innovative profile. We are a modern educational and research centre with priorities in the development of the most significant areas for society, which consistently follows the high-tech line of creation and development of the new educational model. The past two years of trials and challenges have made us more mature, stronger and wiser. First of all, we remembered and appreciated that health, freedom and peace are invaluable and irreplaceable. On the other hand, we realise that we live in unique times, in which the unlimited possibilities of digitization, artificial intelligence and telecommunications enter and transform every sphere of life, but above all education.
Dear students,
I will recall the words of Charles Darwin: "It is not the strongest that survives, nor the most intelligent; it is the one most adaptable to change." You, the young people, are part of the connected society of the 21st century, which sets new directions for the development of the world. You are an indispensable part and the most important human resource of Industry 4.0, which is based on innovation, new technological tools and platforms. You are the bearers of the new, of positive energy, of optimism. You are flexible and adaptable.
At the same time, today it is fair to say that alongside optimism there are also fears, because the world is troubled by crises and anomalies, difficulties that have not been resolved. Unfortunately, lately we seem to think not so much about how to overcome the barriers that prevent the university from fulfilling its mission as a creator of the future, but about the epidemic situation, about the war, about the gas crisis and the risks that they bring. In the next few years, you will go through difficulties that are part of geopolitics, but also from mistakes and confrontations that accompany our everyday life. We are tired of the fragmented reforms that sometimes take us away from the real root of goodness and success. Therefore, today I will address my message to you, recalling the testaments of our patron Chernorizets Hrabar from his ever-living, polemical treatise “On the Letters”. Do not give up when faced with solving problems, do not agree with someone else's opinion, which is useful to some, but not to all.
Show character by being demanding enough of yourself, but also dialogical enough with others. Remember that knowledge and arguments are the only weapons with which you can successfully enter into an equal dialogue with others. The knowledge collected from different fields will give you the measure to what extent you can use other people's experience and from where you should hold your own, because communication with the opponent can give rise to submission, foreign worship, but also enrichment. Remember that it is Chernorizets Hrabar who revealed the conflict as a clash of values, and the characters of the work are a measure of humanity and an example to follow. Thus, the image of a dignified, highly educated, wise, skilled in the art of argument and persuasion, a person with moral and emotional commitment stands out before us. In "On the letters", Chernorizets Hrabar introduces us to a real world in the conditions of acute conflict and transition, in which the problems are very specific and related to the needs and interests of real peoples, personalities and cultures. And the way out of this is again a word with a specific historical dimension, sensibly inserted into the polemic. The arguments for this are particularly relevant today. That is why "On the Letters" is one of the few works of the Middle Ages that is present in today's Bulgarian culture.
And right here, I want to wish you the strength and longevity of these worthy and wise citizens of our God-chosen people and country, which gave reason for "I" to be at the head of our alphabet.
Let the current 2022 / 2023 academic year be successful, fruitful and filled with positive emotions and zeal to gain new knowledge and skills, useful not only for you, but also for everyone!
GOOD LUCK!
26 September 2022
Varna
Dear students,
Dear guests,
Dear lecturers, employees and partners of Varna Free University,
Dear Parents,
Today, we start the2022/2023 academic year. Although the opening ceremony is repeated every year, it is actually a new beginning for all of us. For our Alma Mater - the beginning of the fourth decade of its establishment. For the first-year students – a first meeting with the new orbit of their life and development. For the lecturers and employees - new challenges to defend their vocation and raise to a higher level the assumed responsibility to create and educate knowledgeable, bold and responsible people.
Dear Partners of the University,
Politicians come and go, but our position as parties interested in the education process remains an eternal hope for the future. An eternal value that the giant of the written word Ivan Vazov turned into a symbol, sitting 125 years ago in the chair of the Minister of Education.
On this day, it is customary to deliver solemn speeches, and I will emphasise that the upcoming academic year raises well-ground hopes. For the academic community of Varna Free University, this day is special because the university has opened its doors for the 31st time in a row to welcome its first-year students.
Today, you cross the threshold of our university filled with the same strong feelings of excitement as those of our first students 30 years ago, but with new expectations and hopes. And we are confident that we can respond to them. Today, our university is dynamically developing, academically connected in national and international scientific networks and, last but not least, an attractive educational centre for students from all over the world. VFU "Chernorizets Hrabar" stands out on the map of higher education in our country and in Europe with its innovative profile. We are a modern educational and research centre with priorities in the development of the most significant areas for society, which consistently follows the high-tech line of creation and development of the new educational model. The past two years of trials and challenges have made us more mature, stronger and wiser. First of all, we remembered and appreciated that health, freedom and peace are invaluable and irreplaceable. On the other hand, we realise that we live in unique times, in which the unlimited possibilities of digitization, artificial intelligence and telecommunications enter and transform every sphere of life, but above all education.
Dear students,
I will recall the words of Charles Darwin: "It is not the strongest that survives, nor the most intelligent; it is the one most adaptable to change." You, the young people, are part of the connected society of the 21st century, which sets new directions for the development of the world. You are an indispensable part and the most important human resource of Industry 4.0, which is based on innovation, new technological tools and platforms. You are the bearers of the new, of positive energy, of optimism. You are flexible and adaptable.
At the same time, today it is fair to say that alongside optimism there are also fears, because the world is troubled by crises and anomalies, difficulties that have not been resolved. Unfortunately, lately we seem to think not so much about how to overcome the barriers that prevent the university from fulfilling its mission as a creator of the future, but about the epidemic situation, about the war, about the gas crisis and the risks that they bring. In the next few years, you will go through difficulties that are part of geopolitics, but also from mistakes and confrontations that accompany our everyday life. We are tired of the fragmented reforms that sometimes take us away from the real root of goodness and success. Therefore, today I will address my message to you, recalling the testaments of our patron Chernorizets Hrabar from his ever-living, polemical treatise “On the Letters”. Do not give up when faced with solving problems, do not agree with someone else's opinion, which is useful to some, but not to all.
Show character by being demanding enough of yourself, but also dialogical enough with others. Remember that knowledge and arguments are the only weapons with which you can successfully enter into an equal dialogue with others. The knowledge collected from different fields will give you the measure to what extent you can use other people's experience and from where you should hold your own, because communication with the opponent can give rise to submission, foreign worship, but also enrichment. Remember that it is Chernorizets Hrabar who revealed the conflict as a clash of values, and the characters of the work are a measure of humanity and an example to follow. Thus, the image of a dignified, highly educated, wise, skilled in the art of argument and persuasion, a person with moral and emotional commitment stands out before us. In "On the letters", Chernorizets Hrabar introduces us to a real world in the conditions of acute conflict and transition, in which the problems are very specific and related to the needs and interests of real peoples, personalities and cultures. And the way out of this is again a word with a specific historical dimension, sensibly inserted into the polemic. The arguments for this are particularly relevant today. That is why "On the Letters" is one of the few works of the Middle Ages that is present in today's Bulgarian culture.
And right here, I want to wish you the strength and longevity of these worthy and wise citizens of our God-chosen people and country, which gave reason for "I" to be at the head of our alphabet.
Let the current 2022 / 2023 academic year be successful, fruitful and filled with positive emotions and zeal to gain new knowledge and skills, useful not only for you, but also for everyone!
GOOD LUCK!
26 September 2022
Varna