At the end of 2019, in December, at the monthly student meeting of the Hastor Foundation scholarship-holders, students had the chance to hear some of the experiences of current and former scholarship-holders regarding their successes, achievements, but also the opportunities which, as they say, presented themselves through the support of the Foundation.
Muamer Duratbegović, scholarship-holder, a student of the Faculty of Economics of the University of Zenica, and a member of the winning team at the Hifa Oil Student Competition 2019 broke the ice by sharing his story. Among others who talked about their successes were Lejla Ramić, a former scholarship-holder and a teaching assistant at the Faculty of Law of the University of Sarajevo, former scholarship-holder Semira Špago, who recieved a master’s degree from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering of University of Sarajevo and is currently working for BH Telecom, and Delila Veispahić, a former scholarship-holder who completed her formal education at the Architecture Study Program in the International University of Sarajevo.
The life stories and spheres of interest of each of these young people are very different, but they are all connected by one fact – all four are a part of the Hastor Foundation family. Their presentations were based on personal experiences, education, and experiences gained during volunteering. At the end of each presentation, students had the opportunity to ask questions.
The students of the Hastor Foundation have a very important role, which is the mentoring relationship with high school and elementary school students. The advice they were given about the organization of groups and meetings will be greatly useful to them. What kind of workshops to do, how to make a good use of time and where to organize the excursions are just some of the questions which were answered by more experienced speakers. The focus was to build each mentor student into a person that the Foundation’s scholarship-holders, as well as other young people, can look up to.
Volunteering is the most important experience that distinguishes Hastor Foundation scholarship-holders from the passive members of society. The desire to work, prosper and actively function within the Foundation has brought the speakers many employment benefits, but not only that. Volunteering contributes to the development of personal and social skills and it is therefore worthwhile to dedicate at least ten hours per month towards the common good. It is important to instill a sense of social responsibility in young people, and show them through examples of successful former and current students that their commitments to the university, themselves and the community can be very well balanced with a little effort. A few years ago, volunteering was not easily accessible, and the Foundation family itself was much smaller, so one of the scholarship-holders spoke about the importance of the opportunities given to the new generations. All scholarship-holders had the chance to learn a great deal through presentations and questions, and it can be said with confidence that many of these stories gave the younger generations of scholarship-holders the motivation to develop themselves to the maximum in the best possible way!
Una Karabeg
