Briefly introduce yourself, please.

My name is Can Bingol. I was born in Istanbul, Turkey. My family and I moved to Bulgaria when I was 10 years old. I studied at AAS-Sofia for five years, from 1980 till 1985. At the age of 15, I had to go back to Turkey where I graduated high school and pursued a degree in hotel management. I spent ten years of my life working on cruise liners.
Today I live and work in Bulgaria. My son is currently a student at AAS. He really likes both the school and the city. I am very happy that my business is related to making the city of Sofia more beautiful.

Can you tell us a little bit about your experience at AAS?
I started studying at AAS in 1980. Everything was much smaller back then. We were going to class in small wooden houses. There were only four classes with at most 15 students each. The extracurricular activities we had were skiing, tennis and swimming.
I will never forget the time I spent at AAS. I still keep in touch with a lot of my classmates.

What did you love the most about AAS?
We actually discussed this at the last alumni reunion. We all loved the hot chocolate that we used to get during recess.

Life after AAS? How did your life unfold after graduation? What made you the person you are today?
One of the things that made me grow was my experience at AAS. Thanks to AAS, I learnt English and I opened myself to the global world/ I opened my eyes to the world.

Wherever I go, I always mention that I studied at AAS-Sofia. I’m so proud that my son gets to attend the same school.

What would you advise all graduating seniors?
Stay connected with one another. Stay in touch with the community. AAS is all about the people.