Jory Cook
Jory Cook is a senior at the International College He grew up in Japan, California, and Costa Rica. He speaks English, Japanese, and Spanish. A World Religions major, he has a particular interest in promoting inter-religious dialogue and has helped to organize several symposia at the University with the intent of fostering such exchange. Jory's years that he has spent overseas have allowed him to develop a refined, cosmopolitan outlook on life as well as the disposition needed to bridge cultures and viewpoints beyond his own. He is active at the University with the Latin American Club.
International Festival participants at the University of Bridgeport
Stana Chlepikova
Stana Chlepikova is Senior at the International College where she majors in International Political Economy and Diplomacy. Stana has worked as an interpreter, as a technical architect, and worked overseas in management roles for an Egyptian import-export firm and an Egyptian newspaper. She has been active in the University's Foreign Relations Club and the Harvard Model UN where she has participated as a delegate.
Stana speaks Czech, Russian, Arabic, and English fluently. Having lived in the Middle East for five years, she has internalized key dynamics of the culture and plans to do graduate study in this area.
Maya Atanassova
Maya Atanassova is a Senior majoring in International Political Economy and Diplomacy. A native of Bulgaria, she speaks Russian, Bulgarian, French, and English. For three years she has been active in the Harvard Model United Nations and served as President of the Foreign Relations Club. She has helped to organize a variety of symposia at the University, including one that brought together Bosnians and Serbs to explore the future of that contentious area of Europe. She has organized programs at the University that have also reached out to students at Fairfield and Yale.
Maya has also worked as an intern with Pitney Bowes, with Peoples Bank (where she won Customer Service and Bank Product Sales Awards), and with Congressman Chris Shays under whom she developed a Benefits Reference Manual for the Victims of 9/11. Maya not only developed the manual but she also met with family members in the District who had been affected. Maya is planning to study international law upon graduation.
