Our scholarship holder of the month is Said Kamenica, who, besides working with younger scholarship holders and volunteering in the local community, also does a great job in the translation team of the Hastor Foundation. Read all about his life choices and successes below.

Said comes from Sarajevo. He went to Catholic School Centre Saint Joseph primary school, and after that he enrolled in the Secondary Catering and Tourism School. After graduating, he enrolled in the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Sarajevo, and he’s currently in his fourth year of studies at the Department of English Language and Literature, studying linguistics.

When I talk about my studies, I always try to emphasize my enthusiasm and my wishes to expand my knowledge, whether of language or literature. However, it’s very important to mention that the flow of my education so far has generally helped me develop personally and grow into a socially responsible person. Having in mind all benefits of education, a part of my everyday life is certainly advising young people to pursue education as much as possible, to study and graduate from universities, because it’s the true path to develop an individual’s personality and the society as a whole.

Aside from his university studies, Said is active in other fields of life, and he continually participates in projects, seminars, and similar events. He is currently participating in the project “Using the Rule of Law to Close Dark Chapters in History: The Case of Bosnia and Herzegovina”, which is the result of a collaboration between the Faculty of Philosophy in Sarajevo and the Leiden University in the Netherlands. The project includes analysing data that encompasses the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the ’90s, the siege of Sarajevo, and the Srebrenica genocide. The goal of the project, as the name suggests, is to close this dark chapter in this country’s history and turn towards a future that the Balkan countries will build together in harmony and unity.

In July, I plan to participate in a project named “Ethics in Scientific Research”, which will be realized within the scope of my faculty department. It will consist of three workshops where participants will have a chance to learn everything about conducting proper research, presenting results, and the ethical postulates within the academic community that each academic citizen should respect.

He singles out his trip to the Netherlands in 2018 as his biggest academic success so far. At the Radboud University in Nijmegen, he held three presentations about the history of Bosnia and Herzegovina in order to bring this topic closer to the students attending the event.

I feel that it is important to also mention the activities not directly related to my faculty and my studies, like hiking, running, translating, and reading – all of these activities fulfil me and make my life more beautiful and interesting, and I’m very grateful for that. The word gratitude would make a great introduction to a special part of my story, and it always reminds me of what I feel towards the Hastor Foundation – exceptional and deep gratitude. Although I am one of the newer members of this family, I still want to express my great gratitude for having a chance to be a part of the Hastor Foundation’s mission and vision. I can freely say that the Foundation is one of the rare organizations in the Balkans that has a primary goal of helping young people and supporting them in their life and education. Many things should be pointed out when mentioning the Hastor Foundation, much more than can fit a short story about myself. What places the Hastor Foundation in such a high position is the selfless financial and material support that it provides to students during times of financial crisis, and the fact that young people have the chance to volunteer in the local community, translate texts, work on graphics design, help younger scholarship holders, and so on. Keeping this in mind, it is my great wish to help the Hastor Foundation with its work, and I truly want our Foundation to continue gathering young people from all over Bosnia and Herzegovina, who will, sooner or later, become a bright light in the Bosnian society.

Prepared by: Nejla Komar

Translated by: Vedin Klovo