This is the fifth blog from Nutsa Kvitashvili who is following the BA Program of Sociology at Caucasus School of Humanities and Social Sciences. Nutsa is the recipient of the ESOMAR Foundation Scholarship sponsored by Inizio.

I finished the first semester of my senior year at Caucasus University and this semester was probably my favorite of all because I had subjects which were very interesting and exciting for me, that’s why I wrote my final exams pretty well.  By the way this year is Caucasus University’s 20 year anniversary, so this year we will have a lot of fun activities and events and I’m looking forward to it.

It’s amazing how time flies when you are doing things that you like. Four years ago I became a student at Caucasus University, it seems like it was just a few weeks ago but now I’m in my last semester. Those four years at CU (Caucasus University) were educational and also fun. I met new people and most of them are my friends now, I got to do a lot of fun activities, visit university events and parties and just enjoying student life to the fullest. Besides all the fun being in your last semester is tough because you have more responsibilities and a lot of decisions to make. For example, where should I work? Or should I get my master degree first? Where is it better to get a master degree? In Georgia or maybe in Europe? Which university? Which major should I choose? And there are many questions like this which every senior year student should ask their selves and make these life-changing decisions which could be hard for them. Students start to realize that their academic journey which began when they first started school is now ending. Starting a new chapter in your life can be terrifying because we don’t always know what should we expect in the future. But at the same time with changes come a lot of great opportunities for young adults. The end of something is not necessarily a bad thing, it means that something new is starting and who knows maybe this new journey would be more interesting. American author Caroline Myss once said, “always go with a choice that scares you the most, because that’s the one that is going to help you grow.”

 

This is the fifth blog-post from Paola Loy Villagran, the recipient of the ESOMAR Foundation scholarship in Guatemala. 

During these days I am taking final exams in the first trimester, waiting for the best results to enjoy the summer holidays.

We followed a course called Operations Research, a discipline that deals with the application of advanced analytical methods to help make better decisions, so we can improve time, costs and customer service processes. We can use these applications in airlines, manufacturing companies, service organizations and many others. Hopefully I will be able to implement some of these methods in my own business in the future.

Easter Week in Guatemala

Among other things, as I mentioned in my last blog, Guatemala has a mix of Mayan and Christian traditions that allow us to unite in faith and family. And since we are so close to the celebration I would like to tell you a little about them.

One of the most important, that reminds me my childhood is making carpets.

There are two types of carpets that are made during Easter Week in Guatemala: The carpets along the processional route, made by residents who invite friends and family to assist them, and the carpets in the churches that are made for the holy vigils by the brotherhoods.

On Good Friday the streets of Guatemala are covered with natural, aromatic carpets of flowers, pines, clover and fruits, which the residents put together and place in front of their homes. There are all kinds and shapes, some of them are very long, even up to a kilometer, with colonial and original designs and usually they are made during the 24 hours prior to the procession.

And because of the intense detail and amount of time dedicated to their creation, they are meant to be destroyed once the processions pass. This is a way for the people to give something of themselves in memory of Christ’s death.

Also, during this month my family and I attend a special event organized by Avon Foundation for Women, with the purpose to educate and mobilize people worldwide on issues that are of vital importance to women like breast cancer education and ending violence against women.

“Violence against women and girls hides in the shadow of silence” they said during the event, so I think we all must support these activities and help others to develop and implement policies that promote gender equality.

Nicolin Mamuya, who was granted the first ESOMAR Foundation scholarship in South Africa, has now finished her studies at the University of Johannesburg and is now working as a graduate trainee in the consumer insights and innovation department of a retail company. The company has also arranged for all trainees to complete a post-graduate diploma in business management. So she is basically working while going to school.

We are already 3 months into the year and so much has happened. I finally moved out of the place that I last lived in with my mother. It was such a big step, however; it was what I needed to remind myself that I am actually growing. After all, with growth comes change. I have gained confidence due to how far I have come and my future goals are only becoming clearer as time goes. I only have God to thank for all the opportunities I have been blessed with.

I have also started frequently watching inspirational videos seeing as there really is no formula for this life. One of the interesting videos by Jim Rohn in 1981, provided great food for thought. He mentioned that unless you change how you are, you will always remain with what you have. He continues to state that success is something you attract, not what you pursue. Self-development is, therefore, important. You can start by changing your attitude and then after, understand all you can do through “childish curiosity”. Childish curiosity means that you should not be skeptical but rather be as curious as a child. Jim Rohn highlights the importance of having childish faith i.e., believing easily. This concentrates on easily believing in your abilities.

There is so much that he looked into, however, the one thing that seems to summarise all he said is that everything depends on you. We should, therefore, not blame but rather learn to take responsibility.

 

This is the fourth blog-post from Paola Loy Villagran, the recipient of the ESOMAR Foundation scholarship in Guatemala. 

I am glad to confirm that I completed the first year of studies. Thank God, grades were good but I must admit that it was quite a challenge. I followed a statistics class with a pretty demanding teacher, so I was very busy between exams, group work, homeworks, tutorials and many others.

Honestly, everything was for a good reason because I learned a lot about statistics theories, probabilities techniques using mathematics and above all how to make decisions based on data. It was a year of much learning and profersional growth. I am very excited about the new courses and challenges that are coming.

In my personal life, I admit that Christmas is my favorite time of the year, I love to spend time with my family and friends. In Guatemala, it is celebrated in a specific way because we have many religious and old traditions that people respect, like:

 “Quema del diablo,” or “the burning of the devil,” that occurs every December 7th. Piñatas designed to be the devil are burned as a symbol of releasing any negative energy or letting go of any bad things from the past year.

“Posada” a procession that symbolizes the journey that Mary and Joseph made from Nazareth to Bethlehem. Each night, a wooden float with the statues of Mary and Joseph is carried to three different houses. At the first two houses, a part of the group in the procession enters the house and performs a dialogue; those carrying the float are denied entrance, symbolizing those who turned away Mary and Joseph. At the third house, Mary and Joseph are allowed to enter and are placed in a designated area, generally by the Nativity scene.

 “Nacimiento” the Nativity Scene is the central piece of Christmas decorations in Guatemala. If the Nativity Scene dolls are big enough, the baby Jesus is formally dressed in a white gown on New Year’s Day.

During this time, I also had the opportunity to help a friend I met years ago, but the interesting thing about this story is that he and other friends formed a nonprofit organization called “Heroes of Happiness” with the objective of helping families living in situations of poverty in the country. Especially in this time of sharing and helping people in need we organized activities for children from various communities so they could share with Santa and receive a gift.

In addition to that, we also prepared bags with food so that people can have a better nutrition during these months. Our next project is to build houses so that people in need can live in a better place and prevent fires and diseases caused by drastic temperature changes.

Happy New Year to all, I wish all your dreams come true. Make this new year full of joy, peace and purpose.

 

How you can support Paola

If you wish to support Paola and be the donor of this scholarship, we would be happy to connect and provide you more information. Please contact: info@esomarfoundation.org

How you can support in your country

If you are a market researcher, a national market research association, an NGO involved in research or a university interested in a scholarship in your country please contact us at info@esomarfoundation.org

Partners & Sponsors

We are always on the lookout for partners and sponsors. If you are an organisation looking to understand more on how you can support us, please find more information here or contact:  info@esomarfoundation.org 

 

 

This is the fourth blog from Nutsa Kvitashvili who is following the BA Program of Sociology at Caucasus School of Humanities and Social Sciences. Nutsa is the recipient of the ESOMAR Foundation Scholarship sponsored by Inizio.

I’m halfway through the first semester of my 4^th year at Caucasus University and everything is going pretty well. I wrote my last midterm few days ago so it was a busy month for me. In this semester I study very interesting subjects such as sociology of education, sociology of religion and so on but sociology of arts and visual sociology are my favorite subjects. I have great lecturers in every subject. It’s my senior year in university, so during classes we are more focused on discussions and seminars rather than quizzes. The homeworks are so interesting that I’m reading them like an adventure book.

Every year my university (Caucasus University) has a lot of fun activities during the holiday season to cheer up students. In the hallway we have charity boxes so students can put warm clothes, toys, Christmas trees and food in them, and all those things will be donated to children’s orphanage and to the families with social vulnerabilities. This kind of activities really make a difference and brings out the holiday spirit.

Also, we have activities like Secret Santa which is a Christmas game. If you want to be a part of this game you have to register on the site and each registered student will receive a name but doesn’t tell which name they got and after registration they are responsible for the gift for the person they received. All the gifts are placed in a general area for opening at a designated time and each recipient then finds out who their Secret Santa is. Students, university managers and workers are participating in this game so this time of the year in our university is filled with a holiday atmosphere.

I finished my midterm exams so now I’m looking forward to holiday vacations. This year I will spend new year with my family and my friends at the holiday dinner. Christmas is a time for making new memories, cherish friends, family and it’s the season of loving and sharing the spirit of the holiday season. I want to wish a merry Christmas and a happy new year to you, may this new year bring you peace, love, joy and happiness for you and your loved ones.

How you can support

If you are a market researcher, a national market research association, an NGO involved in research or a university interested in a scholarship in your country please contact us at info@esomarfoundation.org

Partners & Sponsors

We are always on the lookout for partners and sponsors. If you are an organisation looking to understand more on how you can support us, please find more information here or contact:  info@esomarfoundation.org