While studying I was lucky to be in class with three colleagues from Kumanovo, so not only did we hang out at the university but very often we prepared the exams together, we shared our study troubles, we agreed on what and how to work, says prof. Dr. Ivica Milevski.

“The most inspiring, with great knowledge, wonderful attitude towards students, attentive, able to convey knowledge to students in a great way, definitely the best. He makes up for the emptiness of the lecture hall with his excellent approach to online lectures and full commitment.” This is the way the students described Professor Ivica Milevski in the survey conducted last year by Fakulteti.mk about which professors deserve praise for the effort invested in organizing online classes in the pandemic.

Ivica Milevski is a full professor at the Institute of Geography at the Faculty of Natural Sciences, with the title of Doctor of Geographical Sciences. He is the author of about 20 published maps and GIS products, as well as the Geographical Atlas of the World published by “Prosvetno delo” from Skopje. He was also a key national GIS expert for making a pedological map of Macedonia.

In the section “When I was a student”, which we create in cooperation with Fakulteti.mk, we returned to the faculty lectures, socializing, challenges.

– In those early 90s, young people were not preoccupied with politics or any special “life problems”. Our young state was the only one from the former Yugoslavia that was not affected by the wars. We were positive, and then my first true love happened. There were many happy, pleasant moments, but also moments before taking the “difficult” exams when we were really tense – says Milevski about the period of his studies.

He surprised everyone with his choice to study geography

Born in Kumanovo, Professor Milevski says that as a student he was neither among the best nor among the weakest. He surprised everyone by choosing to study geography as no one in his family had ever had contact with that area before. French language, electronics and astronomy were the areas that most interested him during his school days, but, nevertheless, in the end he decided on the geographical studies at the Faculty of Natural Sciences in Skopje.

– Ever since I was a child I was very curious and persistent to find out how things work, what is in them, what parts and components, whether it is a toy, TV, radio or other device. That curiosity of mine follows me to this day and makes me what I am. Since I was fluent in French by the end of high school, I was fascinated by electronics, and I was also interested in astronomy, my idea of ​​choosing what to study was in one of these three areas. However, at the end of that trilemma I decided to study geography at the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics in Skopje. Otherwise, there are no teachers or geographers in my extended family, so this choice was strange and not very logical for my relatives.

He finished his studies with an average of 9,4

Even at first he had doubts about the choice of studies, but soon his decision proved to be correct. Although Kumanovo is about 30 kilometers from Skopje, his daily trips to the lectures were hard, but also interesting, primarily because of the friendship with his two college colleagues who were also from Kumanovo.

– In the first two years of studies we had many general subjects that were not in my field of interest. Honestly, I did not pay much attention to these subjects, so the average in the beginning was not something special to me. So later I literally absorbed the knowledge, not only from the textbooks (which were a rarity) and from what the professors and assistants told us – dictated, but also from the numerous additional literature that I found in the libraries. Already in the second, and especially in the third and fourth year, the real geographical me “awakened”, so I finished my studies with an average of 9.4.

– While studying I was lucky to be in class with three colleagues from Kumanovo, so not only did we hang out at the university but very often we prepared the exams together, we shared our study troubles, we agreed on what and how to work and so on. My well-chosen approach to learning and love of studies helped me to prepare for the exams in a short time, so I had enough time for socializing and various adventures. Normally, during the exam sessions (then June and September) I somehow put everything aside in order to pass the exams successfully.

The lowest grade and the only seven in Macedonian language

Out of about 30 subjects at his studies, Milevski failed to finish up only one, and in the end he passed that exam with a ten. During the exam sessions he knew how to dedicate himself to learning for ten hours a day. Milevski believes that the associative learning by making a short concept-reminder, associations of terms and what is most important from the material, helped him to complete his studies within the exact usual period of four years.

– Using logical thinking and associativity, I prepared the exams in about 10 to a maximum of 20 days. However, during that period I was extremely focused and devoted at least 10 hours a day to learning. Out of about 30 subjects that we had, I failed to finish up only one, which again gave me additional stimulation to later I pass it with the highest grade. I had the lowest grade and the only seven in Macedonian language, with the explanation that as a citizen of Kumanovo I do not speak the literary language properly.

– I tell the current students that they can find time for everything, of course, if they organize it well. In today’s age of struggle for knowledge and skills that will shape our future, it is really important to follow the lectures, exercises and other activities of the faculty. It is necessary to achieve the best possible results, the greatest knowledge, because knowledge has a universal value that no one can take away from us. Of course, socializing, collaborating, and associating with colleagues should not be neglected, as the friendships that will be gained during the study take a special place in life.

Prepared by Nikola Petrovski