The Beginnings of a Student-Led Magazine
It was the year 2022 when the digital magazine “Pegasus Students Voice” launched. Students or rather young people had no place to express their thoughts, a lot of problems surrounded society and youth, the future. They had no place to express themselves! In February 2022, the English language school Pegasus ELS, which has always aimed to encourage students towards education and free expression, created this student-led magazine on these grounds. An official magazine run by young people who would express their opinions and in that way gain experience and socialise at the same time!
This magazine was created in English,in order to help students acquire better skills in the language, but also for this magazine to be a free place to express themselves, from all students who would cooperate with each other. The aim was for this magazine to create an international basis by bringing together local youth of different nationalities expressing their opinions, criticisms, problems, talents, ideas and skills.
My Experience as a Journalist
With the dedication of the teachers of Pegasus ELS school, at first we were a group of 13 students. I was part of this group and I remember how shy we all were. Maybe we didn’t have enough experience, but maybe it was strange for us how we would be a free voice for society. My first article in this magazine was entitled “A Generation Harmed by Technology and Criticism”, I can describe it as a not very professional text and today I am very critical of the text I had prepared!
In this period of two or three years, I have written more than 20 articles, and during this period I have developed my skills, I have gained unprecedented experience. From that simple text, I have evolved by doing different interviews with people of different profiles, I have faced reality and different jobs, different active organisations of my city that I had not known before! During this experience, I have always tried to include the reality, the positive sides and the negative ones at the same time, I have tried to include my reality, I did interviews with my friends, and I have presented talented young people of my city. But I’m still not satisfied with myself, because this magazine promises me a lot, looking at young people who have motivation and desire for a change in the future, and seeing the problems that happen to us every day in the framework of public education, like in everyday life, which are problems that we must change as youth!
This journey would be impossible if we didn’t have our teachers, who trained us and today have allowed us to lead this magazine under their supervision. Next, for you dear readers, I have prepared two interviews with the honourable Mr. Pero Sardzoski (founder of the magazine) and Mrs. Ema Bliznovska (editor-in-chief), both of our teachers who always motivate us, who make us work as a team as much as possible, and for me they are two wonderful teachers, and they are my favourite allies!
Pero Sardzoski
Since the beginning, teacher Pero has been the most supportive and motivating person for us, for the beginning of the magazine he said: “The idea for the Pegasus Student Voice magazine came from our desire to give students a platform to express themselves. We wanted to create a space where your voices could be heard, showcasing your ideas and talents while improving your English skills. We noticed that students had a lot to say about different topics but often didn’t have the chance to share their thoughts publicly. By establishing a student-led magazine, we wanted to empower our students to take charge of their voices and tell their stories” (Pero S.)
I asked him about the initial goals of starting the magazine, and how it would affect the students, and he said that: “At Pegasus ELS, we have always strived to enhance students’ creative skills through various school projects and activities. When setting up Pegasus Student Voice our main goal was to encourage creativity, build confidence in writing, and provide an engaging way for students to practise English. We also aimed to foster a sense of community among students by sharing your diverse perspectives and experiences, as well as assist students in developing their digital and media literacy skills, which are much-needed in the digital age of information we live in.”
Starting a magazine would not be easy, of course there would be many obstacles and challenges for this part and regarding the students’ interest in this possibility, teacher Pero said: “One challenge we, the teachers at Pegasus ELS, faced was figuring out how to organise everything and make sure everyone had a role. We also needed to find a balance between guiding you and allowing you to take the lead. But we learned a lot through the process! We wanted to include students from different backgrounds and interests, so we invited anyone passionate about writing or journalism to join. It was important to us that the first group reflected the diversity of our school community.”
I also asked about the lessons that he has learned from running the magazine, both personally and as a team. The teacher answered: “Running the magazine has really highlighted the value of teamwork, effective communication, and the importance of truly listening to one another. It’s been incredibly fulfilling to see how productive you all can be when given the opportunity to develop your skills in a meaningful context. Watching each of you grow as writers and express your unique creativity has been an inspiring experience for all of us.”
Ema Bliznovska
Teacher Ema is always by our side, giving us different ideas, now every article we write, it first goes through her correction! This role is both important and difficult, so regarding obstacles and ongoing challenges, she stated that: “The biggest challenge in running the magazine is getting the issue out on time. This can happen for a number of reasons, but one of the main ones is late submissions. When journalists submit articles late, they get to editing late, which, in turn, means they are published late. Other challenges are sticking to branding, as in: choosing the magazine’s colours, fonts, pictures, etc. But, despite all the challenges, this wonderful student-led magazine perseveres easily.”
I also asked her about the future of the magazine and future plans, she said: “I see it as an incredible starting point for more student initiatives, like: design clubs, gaming clubs, coding clubs, any type of club, really. Additionally, I see it as magnificent inspiration for other teenagers who are looking to make a change in the society where they live and beyond.There are always new ideas and it is my biggest pride and joy to hear all the inventive ideas the journalists come up with. I can see a lot more Instagram and Tiktok presence in our future, as well as physical presence in different locations around town.”
Regarding her experience during this magazine and what she has learned during this period, she stated that: “The magazine has been a constant source of information for me, personally. I have watched TV shows and movies my fav journalists recommended. I have learned new things about the gaming world (making me stay in touch with my younger students), and honestly, numerous other things. As a team, I feel we’ve learned to manage expectations, we’ve learned to be bolder, braver, smarter and faster. I just know there’s so much more to be learnt and I cannot wait.”
This is a small break from the work period that we have had for these two years, we have published several editions, and a lot of articles and information! Pegasus Student Voice is the voice of youth and a source of change, we promise you that our work is always dynamic expressing ideas and realising them. We try to be the voice of youth and always try to reflect reality. We are the future, and we are working for it!
