The rubric of active youth is a space where we present the most hard-working scholarship holders of our Foundation. They are the ones who continually tend to invest their energy and time in higher goals and in that way improve themselves as well as their society. RAM (random access memory) is a part of the computer without which one cannot imagine it functioning. Our scholarship holders are just the same, who, in addition to volunteer activism at the Foundation, work very hard in their communities as well, a part without which our work would definitely not be the same. RAM is a rubric dedicated to those who actively work daily to improve their society and themselves, therefore it is our pleasure to talk about some of them each month, and this month the honor goes to Anela Mušanović.
Anela Mušanović is a girl from Sarajevo who knows no boundaries when it comes to development and personal growth. Although life was holding her back in many ways, she came out of every tribulation stronger and with a more positive spirit. When she was one year old, she got diagnosed with diabetes with which she still lives today, but that did not prevent her from bettering herself and achieving outstanding results. In the meantime, she also became part of the Hastor Foundation family. She is currently in her fourth year of studying at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in Sarajevo, and she says that her childhood dream came true. Her next goal after finishing her studies is to get a job in the field of veterinary inspection. She is a big perfectionist, and in her free time, she loves reading books, especially from the field of psychology where she makes notes of her thoughts at that moment.
Anela starts her volunteer work path by volunteering at the Hastor Foundation, and she fits her free time and love of animals and volunteering into one perfect whole which is now fulfilling her life. In her third year of studies at the faculty, she started volunteering at the veterinary station to acquire practical knowledge in addition to studying. Every month, she has around 40 hours of volunteer work, and with the Foundation and volunteering with the younger students, that number can get even higher.
As a student in her final year of university, and soon to be a doctor of veterinary medicine, I can proudly say that the Hastor Foundation is to be credited for this amount of my hard work, giving up some things, acquiring knowledge, and discovering new sides of myself which I did not even know existed.
Anela simply lives for her volunteer work and the Hastor Foundation. Volunteering with children and acquiring new work habits are part of her everyday life. The motivation to prepare good quality content before volunteering with kids each month and to make the most of the time with them is exactly what we are taught at the Hastor Foundation, which is that the young scholarship holders we volunteer with become precisely what we present to them and what they see in us. Those words, she says, inspire her to be responsible and dedicated to each child individually. Anela, as she says, tries to have the kids remember each topic based on something specific. She tries to interact with the students from her volunteer group and, primarily, be their friend and then a mentor. This is just what the Hastor Foundation teaches us every month, again and again.
Our families, each one individually, are mostly based on different postulates, and the Hastor Foundation is for each of us based on the same ones – selflessly helping, empathy, and positive examples. This is where we learn to walk again, speak and spread our wings only when we are fully ready to fly. There are a lot of us there, and yet, we are one.
Anela is proud because, in the meantime, she has acquired good communication with the parents of the children from her volunteer group, and she also earned their trust and, in that way, once again, justified the reputation and the role of the mentors.
The Hastor Foundation has taught me how to communicate with young people and their parents and have equal respect for all of them. The Foundation taught me another important life lesson – every thought is better as a realized goal and not just as a mere wish that longs for better days. The better days were already yesterday, I will remember this tomorrow as well, and so forth.
With each new day, Anela justifies her role as a scholarship holder of the Hastor Foundation, and as previously mentioned, she lives for it. She thinks that we present our Foundation by presenting ourselves in the best way possible in the street, while we take walks, while preserving the environment, while we help others, while we celebrate others’ success as if it were our own, while we become better versions of ourselves each day and compete with the person we were yesterday.
Anela’s message for everyone is:
My message to the scholarship holders would be to learn how to control their minds, for the mind is truly the source of everything that happens in our life. I took my illness as another opportunity, each new day is risky but I want to live. Before you utter anything out loud while communicating with someone, remember that that person may be fighting a battle of their own. A kind word saved many, be a good person before you become a good employer. Treat others how you want to be treated, work hard, invest in things you want to grow, set some realistic goals for yourself, and be guided by them. Sometimes wishes do not come true and they remain just wishes, a goal is much more realistic, write down a list of goals and not wishes. And finally, from the quotes rubric which I, too, am guided by, I am telling the scholarship holders this:
“Because of everything you can do, because of the words, looks, thoughts, and so: be smart!”
Meša Selimović, The Fortress
Prepared by: Adelisa Begić
Translated by: Minela Geko
