“WHEN I WAS A STUDENT” WITH BRANISLAV NIKOLOV, “FOLTIN”: WITH THE ROOMMATE WE HAD A “PROTOFACEBOOK”, WE LEFT THE RIDDLES OF THE DAY ON THE DOOR OF THE CLOSET

In second year I stayed in “Goce” and there, far, alone in the room, it happened to somehow lose the active student environment, so I retreated and went to a solitary, marathon reading. Nostalgia caught me, and music dragged me more and more – the musician acknowledges and returns to his student days in the column that Faculteti.mk and “Pivara Skopje” realize together.

The leader of the band “Foltin”, Branislav Nikolov, is one of the most charismatic leaders of musical compositions in our country. If it is known that a good part of the lyrics of this already cult group are his and combine more languages ​​and sometimes fictional languages, it is quite normal for you to understand that perhaps studding of a foreign language was a choice for the famous citizen from Bitola. Last night (in “Cresha bar” in Skopje at 19 o’clock) under the pseudonym Drunk Nightingale, he promote his first poetry collection “Krevetizam i Horizontal”, published by “Prozart Publishing”.

Branko studied at the Department of French Language at the Faculty of Philology “Blaze Koneski” in Skopje. He reached the fourth year and stopped studying. And to this day he cannot answer why he didn’t graduate from college, although he reached the fourth year.
– Oh, that’s the question my wife still is asking me. And the conclusion follows after every unsuccessful defense: “Do not start something you cannot finish!”

I was a first class dreamer

He studied French in High school, but admits he did not learn much then and that the main decision did not come from there.
– At that time, at the age of 18, the music was out of any option. I spent a year or two doing nothing special, reading books and treating insomnia. Then I was a little soldier and when I came back, I had no idea what to do with myself again. I have always been a first-class dreamer and an escapist, and the Mediterranean was my perfect exotica. I thought, why not – if I’m studying French language and literature, at least I can realize myself imaginary. But not only imaginary. To learn a foreign language means to embrace the world, to travel, to cross the other side of the familiar in the space of the exciting unknown. Perfect for the adventurous spirit of a young man who has not release roots until now. Basically, that was the idea – says Nikolov.

The French language was not his only wish for studying. There was a short intense dilemma about whether to try studding at the Faculty of Fine Arts.
– I had a friend, Aleksandar Popovski, later roommate and colleague in the first lineup of “Foltin”, who finished the graphic studies, with which one period, before I decide for the Philological Faculty, we portrayed each other, and he insinuated me, but at the same time evaluated and gave me the support to try. However, I estimate that I do not have the right thing and in the end I did not dare. I never regretted it. A small crisis of identity – says Branko, adding that immediately after finishing high school, after some inertia or logical sequence of events”, he enrolled, or rather, he was forced to enroll at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering in Bitola.

– And that delusion lasted briefly – for two weeks. That is, you cannot have beauty with force,” he says.

He studied focused and intensely

He remembers the entrance exam, which was in two parts.
– How would you not remember?! These days I remember the most after the earthquake that shook Bitola while I was still in Skopje. Double panic. Days of temptation. But, as I said, I did not show much in high school, so I had to warm the chair for the entrance exam. So I did it, and the outcome was inevitable. Back then, at least on my Faculty, it was like that – with nice results at the entrance exams you could redeem yourself for the “sins” in the high school – jokes the vocal of “Foltin”.

Although he did not graduate, he was a zealous student. He wanted to learn focused and intensely.
– I did not want to scatter. I’m not interested in general subjects, those who did not have a direct connection to the language. Twelve hours at College … As a first-year student, I was housed at “Ruzveltova,” street I walked on foot and walked back on foot. I murmured in French. And I was not the only one. We confirmed that with colleagues. What you hear all day, you will hear it where it is not. I remember when we walked through “Mavrovka” during the breaks, we articulated Albanian as incomprehensible French. And sometimes it happened to  interpret something. It was funny to the pain – Nikolov.

Already the next one, as he calls the “sophomor” year, he settled in the student home “Goce Delchev”.
– There, far, alone in the room, it happened that I somehow lost my active student environment, so I retreated and went to a solitary, marathon reading. It could not last long. Nostalgia caught me, and the music dragged me more and more. So, I returned to Bitola, took the exams, but it was not the same. I started to have fun. I was less and less a student, he says.

We asked him to choose his favorite faculty professor. He says that it is definitely Zana Angelovska.
– She upgraded the teacher-student relationship to the level of friendship. For her, language and culture were a mission for the common good. Such professors know how to stimulate, motivate and inspire. With such professors, student loves the subject and stuff, so he does not learn about the exam, but about life.

He says he had a good average. He did not occupy himself with the grades, did not “chased” a scholarship and was relaxed.
– On several occasions, without hesitation, I rejected the offer when the professors wavered. You learn as much as you learn and аapproximately it shows. The undeserved higher grade in the index will not increase the reputation and knowledge, and in particular it will not make you a better person and a professional in your life, Branislav said.

I am sorry for the unrounded golden age

Studying is an exciting phase of the modern man’s life – mature enough to taste the freedom of independent living, and sufficiently immature to bear the burden of responsibility in the adult world, he says.

– Perfect! It is the part that comes just before that: “The great power brings great responsibility.” Like you are in a huge shopping mall of life, the goods are great, the choice is great, and in your hand you have a voucher with almost unlimited value, so you have all the time to look and choose how, with who, where you will live, what will you work, etc., and you also have that privilege – if you do not like it, replace it with another, without any major additional costs. Maybe you will hurt or dissapoint someone, but you’re young, and that’s how it is done. Now, it’s all nice, but I rejected it too soon. I am sorry for the incomplete and unfinished, unrounded golden era, and at the same time I am not sorry for the choice I made. So, here I am now – admits the musician.

He did not work while studying and says that it was a general picture of the students at the time.
– At the end of my regular studies I worked on the case to become a musician. The joke aside, I did not live wasteful, so I did not need extra money, and I did not have time for something else. I was a professional student. I do not remember that I knew someone from the regular students who worked. We were all professional students. That tells a lot about the educational system and the system of values, in general – he says.

We had an analog social network

With his roommate Aleksandar, who was at the end of his studies when Branko was a first-year student, they had an interesting ritual. Because they did not see each other much during the day, they created an unusual way of communicating.

– In the room we had an old closet that, except for the storage of clothes, served us for another purpose. I do not know how it all started, but it became a custom whenever one of us went back to the room to take a piece of paper and write down some riddle, aphorism or comment, something that accentuates or completes the day and sticks it on the inside of the door of the closet. All guests had the obligation to open the door and before read and laugh, to enroll in the list with friends who come for the first time. It was our analog social network, our “protofacebook”. In a short time, a lot of material was gathered. Someone came up with the idea to be released in the form of a photo book, but we realized that it works only there, on the “wall” in the closet- tells Branislav. In the room we had an old closet that, except for the storage of clothes, served us for another purpose. I do not know how it all started, but it became a custom whenever one of us went back to the room to take a piece of paper and write down some riddle, aphorism or comment, something that accentuates or completes the day and sticks it on the inside оf the door of the closet.