“WHEN I WAS A STUDENT” WITH TATJANA ALEKSIKJ, MACEDONIAN LANGUAGE PROFESSOR: STUDY WITH LOVE, KNOWLEDGE IS A CAPITAL THAT MOTHS CANNOT EAT

I would recommend current students to study with love and to invest in their knowledge. That is the only capital that moths can’t nibble away, thieves can’t take away and they should definitely be ashamed of themselves for trying to pay their way through education.  That “knowledge” will serve you for nothing.

It is nice when professors are role models to students and when they stand out from certain social norms others cling to. Students are looking to feel a peer relation with their professors and they seek for a possibility to talk with their professors on various topics, and that is precisely who is Tatjana Aleksikj, Macedonian language and literature professor at one of Skopje’s prominent high schools “Rade Jovchevski-Korchagin”.

The general public easily recognizes her by the show called “Sexual Alphabet” that aired around ten years ago. That was her attempt at fighting certain taboos and in bringing that sensitive topic closer to young people through short presentations of experts appearing as guests in the show.

But, we are more curious to know how did she became a professor and what attracted her to study general and comparative literature? Tatjana was born in Skopje, and she was part of the second generation of students at the Department of World Literature in the period from 1986 to 1989.

– As early as I can remember, I have always been creative, I have always enjoyed drawing and writing, I took ballet lessons, choir singing lessons, I listened to music on my gramophone all day long. In high school, I became interested in drama. We won many awards with my class in high school competitions and we were really prod of that. With my class, we even made a parody of Eurovision and it was called Scandalision. That was the year when Daniel Popovikj won the Eurovision Song Contest with his song “Julie”. I played the role of a comic host, imitating five languages, and my classmates played the roles of Lepa Brena, Daniel and the Barudjija sisters, Slagjana Miloshevikj and Dado Topijk. I’ve always dreamt about becoming a teacher, and I did become a teacher, a teacher passing on creativity to my students through the lessons of school’s drama section – says Tatjana.

C in math, an A student in everything else

Realizing the fact that Tatjana was much better in languages was not hard for her, as the only subject that ruined her perfect score as student in the high school “Orce Nikolov” was math. The passion for reading was a legacy from her parents. Her dad had a huge book collection, while the love for teaching had been passed on by her mother.

– My dad had two faculty degrees. MSc and PhD degrees weren’t a thing back then. He was a math teacher at the “Aleksinac” high school and then he completed the Faculty of Mining in Belgrade. My father’s side of the family, the Golubikj, used to nurture a kind of cult of books, poetry and theater; however, my teaching genes probably come from my mother’s side of the family. The professor Stefka Prokopieva, was my aunt, and she was a professor at the high school “Orce Nikolov”. She retired soon after I started my education in “Orce Nikolov” and back in those times, we never bragged around about who our relatives were, because it was definitely bad taste to pull strings to get better grades.

I used to go to the University by bike

Modesty was always her main trait, even when she could easily do the opposite. She always dressed simply, and Tatjana, from her home in Taftalidje, she used to commute to the University simply by bike.

– I used to go to the University by bike, when the weather was nice, and on rainy days, busses no. 2 and 19 were my usual means of transport. We were raised to be modest and humble, material things were always somewhere in the background, priority was always given to the spiritual values in all spheres of living. My grandfather used to drive an “Opel” back when the police officers drove Zastava 750, the famous “Ficho”, and I had never asked him to drive me to school out of respect for less privileged classmates. In my class, there were two poor girls, and I used to give them new clothes, trying not to hurt their feelings, and I always hang out with them when everybody else was avoiding them – says Tatjana.

Perfect score was not my thing

During her faculty years, Tatjana primarily focused on the subjects she was most interested in and her objective was not to have a perfect score. Her professors were some of the most prominent intellectuals of those times, and instead of opting for graduate degree in Belgrade, as everybody was doing back then, she opted for a completely different experience.

– My average grade at the University was 7.8. Perfect score just was not my thing. I had low grades in subjects I was not interested, such as national defence and Marxism, but also in grammar, which I now realize was a major mistake. Nevertheless, I had high grades in subjects that I enjoyed studying. I was lucky to learn from great intellectuals, and their lessons were a true treasure. I completed my studies in three years, and my average score gave me the opportunity to continue my graduate studies in Belgrade, as back then there was not such option in Skopje.  I had no ambitions of piling up academic titles, so I decided to go to Switzerland and I worked as a babysitter for one of my childhood friends. I studied living in Switzerland. Last year, the baby I was taking care then who is now a 30-year old beautiful and smart young woman, invited me to Switzerland.

Pulling strings was a big no-no back then

Without any negative feelings, Tatjana recollects events from her days as university student. She believes that she was always evaluated based on her knowledge, and the best moments of her student life were certainly annual student trips with her classmates from the University and the parties with her boyfriend at that time, who then became her husband. I worked to cover my expenses and nobody was ashamed to work while studying to put them through university.

– I have never been faced with situation in which students were evaluated unfairly, or situation in which someone would pull strings or would be subject to blackmail, and I have never been subject of professor manipulations of any kind. Every year, we went to student trips around Europe, to France, Italy, Spain and the traditional last year student trip to Russia. Those were beautiful moments I will cherish forever. I also used to study and read books at the National University Library. I remember helping my brother and his wife with their first child, and on weekends, I would go out and party with my boyfriend, my current husband. Back then, the people belonging to my generation, including me, we were in a kind of illusion that finishing university studies was more than enough to get employed by the state. However, we soon realized that we had to take matters into our own hands. We did not shy away from working just about anything, although we were highly educated, with diploma in general and comparative literature.

We studied hard and partied even harder; however, I have never flunked an exam

Solidarity while getting ready for exams was an important element. We always shared materials and notes and we would go to someone’s home to study together. And once faculty duties were successfully completed, night parties, of just about any kind, were a great hit.

– We were never selfish, and we always shared notes and materials and studied together for our exams. I used to study with my neighbors and my high school friends from “Orce Nikolov” Sonja Lazhetikj and Djogo Tatjana, most often in the National University Library, which offered the widest selection of books. There were cases when I would stay up late partying around and then get a C in the morning. I have always enjoyed reading, and I used to read two or three hours a day, and in the weeks before an exam, I would stay at home and read all day long. I also enjoyed going to parties. All my friends studied and partied, we were all successful and all graduated from faculty, and we were omnipresent in the hottest Skopje party grounds, such as Shaneda, Zmija, Klub na stranci, Klub 63, Djajdjo on Partizanska street, Teferidj and Denis.  We also enjoyed going out in the trendiest discos in those times, the parties organized by “Orce” or “Josip Broz” students and the parties organized by law students, and parties at home were also very popular. In only three years, I managed to pass all 32 exams at my Faculty, but again, I had no ambitions of a perfect grade score. On the other hand, I have never flunked an exam – says Tatjana.

Cinema junkie

Back when she was a student, Tatjana simply adored going to the cinema, often watching the very same movie over and over again. She enjoyed spending her free time creatively and her main motto was – turn old things into new.

– I used to draw, make rag dolls and jewelry from spare scraps and I would redo old clothes from my mother or grandmother. I regularly went to the cinema, I would even buy 30 tickets at once for all movie festivals, and I would even watch some movies more than once… I also enjoyed ice-skating at the Kale Ice Rink even though I was not a teenager any more. I used to babysit my nephew. I would recommend current students to study with love and to invest in their knowledge. That is the only capital that moths can’t nibble away, thieves can’t take away and they should definitely be ashamed of themselves for trying to bribe their way through education.  That “knowledge” will serve you for nothing.

Prepared by: Nikola Petrovski