Nikoleta Stoynova '25: Appreciate the Present, Work towards Your Dreams

Interview by Petia Ivanova ’97

As someone who regularly highlights student achievements, I have often recounted Nikoleta’s accomplishments over the past five years. During her educational journey at ACS, supported by the Inez Abbott Giving Circle, she has consistently stood out – as a silver medalist at the National Young Physicist Tournament in both 2023 and 2024, Ambassador for a Day at the British Embassy in Bulgaria, president of the Muzeiko Volunteering Club and the Women in STEM Club at ACS, and head organizer of the FISSION International Science Festival 2025, among many other accomplishments. An avid dancer, Nikoleta has actively participated in the school’s Dance Program, most recently taking part in “Queen: The Show Must Go On.”

Nikoleta has been an exceptional ambassador for our school, leading campus tours for prospective students, volunteering to teach astronomy to children in grades 3 to 5, including in her hometown of Kazanlak, representing Bulgaria at MILSET Expo-Sciences International in Puebla, Mexico (2023), and taking part in numerous interviews for the media. At her Commencement Ceremony, she was honored with The Margaret R. Sanders Award for Student Life – an accolade given to a student who has actively engaged in diverse extracurricular activities and fully embraced the opportunities offered beyond the classroom. This award could not have gone to a more deserving individual.

Well-rounded, industrious, and a true leader, Nikoleta has been a true pleasure to know and collaborate with. I was honored to spend the afternoon on the day after her graduation in conversation with her, on a bench by the Fountain, discussing her ACS experience and her exciting plans for the future.

Congratulations on your graduation, Nikoleta! Looking back at your senior year now, are there any moments that stand out?

Every day of senior year was special in itself. We tried to appreciate the moments we shared as a class and tried to make each day special. For me, what stands out the most is FISSION. I was one of the four organizers this year, and it was my senior project, so I put a lot of effort and time into it with my peers and the FISSION Club members. We had many sleepless nights, of course, but at the end of the day, it was probably the best edition ever, the 10th anniversary edition. I’m very proud of what we achieved, so this is the highlight of my year. Graduation was a highlight, too. I had very nice moments with my section, as well. I think we were the only section that organized a weekend away. We went to Samokov, a town filled with ACS history. We went to the old columns and took a class photo there. It felt like a full circle moment, from 8th grade to 12th grade, a very nice experience to have one last time and to share with your classmates. Senior year felt shorter somehow. It was packed with events. From college applications at the beginning, straight to preparing for prom and all the exams that we had during the year.

At ACS, you were part of the dance program. How was it to combine this passion of yours, dancing, with the academic pursuits and organizing FISSION?

Well, I’ve been dancing my whole life, since I was five. I danced ballet at first, then I transitioned to hip-hop. After I came to ACS, I couldn’t find time to go dancing outside of school, so I joined the dance program. This turned out to be one of my best decisions. I’ve been part of the program since Grade 8, dancing every single week. I’m very grateful to Miss Nedelcheva, who is so passionate to teach us to dance beautifully and to create something that will remain with the audience, as well.

Was there a challenge that you faced this year and overcame and that taught you something important about yourself?

FISSION was a great challenge, of course, mainly because we had to follow a timeline for completing the project and we couldn’t extend the deadline. College applications were the most challenging part of the year though. Not so much because of the work that I had to do, writing essays and CVs, because it’s something that we are used to here. The hard part was to maintain your mental health during this stressful process but I think I managed well. But at the end of the day it’s very fulfilling when you see the results from the whole process. I was accepted during the early decision cycle to one of my dream universities, Brown in the United States. I am thinking of studying mechanical engineering, because it’s something that relates to physics and mathematics which I’ve always been good at and enjoyed, so I am hopeful.

What is your most vivid memory from ACS that you’ll take with you?

Well, there are a lot of things that I’ll remember for sure. But I think 8th grade in particular was very different from anything I had experienced before, it’s something unique to ACS and I will remember it forever. The ESL classes with Miss Ivanova will always stay with me. You see, I struggled with English at the beginning. I had only basic knowledge from my previous school.

So, imagine me standing in Miss Ivanova’s classes where I had to put so much effort. She’s one of my favorite teachers to this day because she taught me how to work hard. And she showed me that actually I can go from zero to where the others are. I ended up with the second-highest grades at the end of the year. This would remain in my memories forever.

Additionally, the activities that we had during her classes, diverse and fun. Probably the online lessons were my favorite part; we had to always be on time with the clock, no matter whether we had internet or not, an excuse for many people. We had to celebrate March Madness during online lessons, which was something very special compared to what those before and after us experience. But of course we dressed up and it was a lot of fun, everyone at home, everyone taking photos of this grid full of masked heads including Miss I.

What is your academic passion? Is it natural sciences, math or physics specifically?

Мy mother is a mathematician, so I think that was the origin of my interest in math since childhood. I started going to math competitions in the first grade but with time, physics grew a little more interesting to me than math. I started going to physics competitions. Then, I found astronomy to be even more interesting to me than physics. I started going to different competitions, Olympiads in physics and astronomy. Eventually, I realized that combining all these sciences might be the best choice. I started going to a different type of competition, such as where you create scientific projects ahead of the competition, you work on them for a year or more, and present them in front of the jury in the end.

I went to the first competition of this kind in eighth grade. It was online, because again, it was the COVID times. One of the jury members, who was from the Sofia University Faculty of Biology, noticed me and emailed me after the competition, telling me she was interested in us working together. I wasn’t ready back then, but a year later, I contacted her and we started working together.

So it was you, an ACS 9th grader, and this Sofia University professor, then?

Yes, Assoc. Prof. Margarita Kouzmanova is from the Biophysics and Radiobiology Department of Sofia University. We were working together with some doctoral students from Sofia University. After that, I worked on individual projects for some time. At the end of 10th grade, I had an idea about my biggest project to date, the Agrophotovoltaics project. I contacted her to ask her to help me get access to some labs at Sofia University to do my experiments there. Probably this was the moment that I decided that my interest lies not in physics or astronomy or math but in a combination of all sciences, as something that would make my projects more valuable and more impactful. I did these experiments there to complete my project, and then presented it at many competitions. Among others, I went to the Vienna Science Fair with Dr. Chakarova. After that, I competed locally, and in one of the local competitions, I was chosen to represent our country in Mexico at the International Science Fair there. And the project allows for building on it and further research and development, so I plan to continue with it at the university.

How do you unwind and have fun?

Having fun is something that I do on weekends. I like to play tennis a lot, and I’m very passionate about watching tennis as well. I’m a Novak Djokovic fan. Other than that, I love photography. I joined the photography club here and made great friends in this club, spanning all grade levels. That was really cool. I started shooting at some events, even outside of school. I also played the piano with Ms. Vodenicharova for some time in the 10th and 11th grades. I love this about ACS, here I could try everything, literally. In my free time, I love to hang out with my family, friends, and travel to my hometown, Kazanlak, which is something that I really try to do more often now before I leave for the United States.

Who helped you the most to get where you are?

A lot of people helped me and continue to help me, but first and foremost, it was always my family. Then the teachers, who are a big part of my success. I mentioned Miss Ivanova, then there was Dr. Chakarova, whom I went to meet in 8th grade before we even had Physics classes. I went there for help with one of my science projects and she was so happy and helpful. Ms. Ninova, who taught me History in 10th grade. I’m not as passionate for Humanities as for natural sciences, but she made me love history, especially Bulgarian history, so I’m very grateful to her, as well. And so many other teachers here and the staff members who always supported me along my path. It’s a combination of my efforts, their efforts and the help of the school as well.

Will you continue dancing at Brown University?

Actually, I wrote about dancing in one of my essays. At Brown, they have a very well developed dance program. And they built a new dance center recently, so I’m very excited to go and see and dance there. They have all kinds of dance activities, as most American universities, but modern dance is what I’m interested in now. I will certainly follow my passions there – science, dance, volunteering – I’ll continue all of those there, hopefully on a bigger scale and to a greater impact.

How would you describe yourself in three words?

Hardworking, passionate, mmm, crazy. “Hardworking” first. But everything I do is driven by passion. I think it’s very important during high school to follow your passion rather than what others think might be good for whatever benefits, say your college application. Looking around me, it was those who were passionate about what they did that achieved their dreams. And as per “crazy,” I’m always up for anything, I like experimenting, and I often get out of my comfort zone.

People who don’t know me well expect me to always be at home studying, but that’s not me. I’m a combination of many different things.

If you were able to change one thing about yourself, what would you change, if anything?

There are a lot of things, certainly. I want to be punctual. See, I was late today for this interview. I’m always late. I always find something more to do in the five minutes before I leave. And then I’m running to catch the bus, the metro, you name it. I don’t want to do this at university.

Was coming to ACS an easy choice for you?

Yes, definitely. I learned about the school quite late compared to other people here. I think I was in sixth grade. My mom read about ACS on the website, liked what she read and we decided to join an open house day on campus. Once here, I was certain this is where I wanted to be. The atmosphere, the campus, the people above all. The 11th grade students who led the campus tours were so passionate, so genuinely happy to be here, so positive about everything, about life. I immediately knew I wanted to be like them one day and show the school to interested students five years later.

And you did. Though you didn’t wait five years for that, did you?

Yes, I started leading campus tours in grade nine.

Do you regret anything or wish you had done anything differently?

I tried to make the most of my time at the College and try new things but surely, I could have tried even more clubs, even more activities. I regret that I didn’t play the piano more. Playing an instrument brings me a lot of joy. But some major regrets, I don’t think I have them. We should be grateful for what we’ve achieved rather than regret what we haven’t, we can’t achieve everything.

What’s your favorite journey, a real or a metaphorical one, one you’ve been on or wish to do in your life?

I think life is the journey that unravels all the time. The most interesting so far has been my moving from my hometown Kazanlak to Sofia with my family. I will be eternally grateful to them for taking such an important step: they left their jobs, my grandparents, who were used to having us there, and moved because they knew how much I wanted to study here. At the beginning, it was very stressful for me because it seemed the other students knew one another from before or were friends even while I was alone. Now I have a lot of friends though, it just took some time.

Now my journey will take me to the United States which has been my dream, you know, where I will meet people from all over the world. Brown is nicely situated near big cities – Boston is an hour away and New York three hours away – while not in one, so one gets to experience campus life, as well. I love being in a new environment and creating new friendships and contacts, so I’m very excited. I can’t wait to go there because each time I go to a new place I have this whole new wave of motivation to start working on new projects.

Your idea of perfect happiness is…?

Perfect happiness? Perfect happiness is to find peace with yourself, not think about the future or the past, and be in the present moment. I think about the future and what’s next too much. It’s always the next thing. This makes me disconnected from the present moment. When I go to the States, and leave my family behind, I will surely feel I should have appreciated each and every moment with them, each moment here more. It feels as if we started thinking about our future all the way back in 8th grade. Okay, maybe it was the end of 9th grade, but since then, I’ve always thought about the future and I don’t like it. To live in the present and to appreciate each moment, of course while at the same time working towards your dreams and your goals. Not to forget where you are now, that you have achieved a lot already, and be happy about what you have now. Because it’s not little.