Maria-Luiza Taskova ’19

Name: Maria-Luiza Taskova

Class Year: 2019

Major: Computer Science

Hometown: Plovdiv, Bulgaria

What do you love about your hometown?

My hometown is a really comfortable place for me. I know a lot of small streets, secret places, and I’d like to explore more. I feel at home there, but I also enjoy exploring other areas actually.

If someone had the chance to visit Bulgaria, what would you recommend they to do there?

I would recommend you to try Bulgarian food, because there’s a lot of good food in Bulgaria. I am always available to recommend some restaurants that have really tasty food, but I would suggest you go out on your own to explore the cuisine a lot more. There are also some really nice hills that you can climb up because they’re not too high. Then, you can look at the city from above, and the view is really pretty. After that, you could go and climb the mountains around the country, too!  

How is your academic experience at Mount Holyoke so far?

I really love my classes, the challenging academic level, and the development I have acquired. I spend a lot of time and efforts on studying, and hard work pays off. I really enjoy seeing how I have stepped forward really clearly.

Why do you want to be a computer science major?

In computer science, everything is always new. You can’t ever encounter something that is exactly the same as something else, so you continually have to deal with new problems. This field makes you improve yourself for the whole life. You can never have it all or know it all. Even when you’re already in the workplace, you still have to continue exploring a lot of things, since there are always new problems coming up.

What do you think about the challenges that you have dealt with so far?

I love the academic challenges that Mount Holyoke gives me. I love dealing with problems proposed in the classrooms and doing homework assignments. I always want to accomplish them. Talking about social life, I would say that I don’t really feel comfortable in America. I’m getting there, though I still tend to stay away from people sometimes.

Do you have any advice for students who are still struggling to fit in here?

I guess everyone has to go through the process of trying to fit in a new environment. Exploring is good, but you may don’t always feel comfortable everywhere you go, even around the campus. I don’t even know all the buildings here, but I feel comfortable in the places I know. I’m feeling comfortable here right now (in Kendade). Maybe, the key is to explore a lot and find out your comfort spots, where you feel the strongest.  

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