A mentor is someone who sees more talent and ability in you than you see in yourself and helps bring it out. – Bob Proctor
It is a fact that our family has the greatest influence on shaping our personality. The family atmosphere is the first thing we encounter and it is the the initial environment in which our learning phase begins. Until we start nursery or school, parents and other family members are the only ones who can influence our behavior, thoughts, mindset, and learning. However, upon meeting new people, the influence on us, consciously or unconsciously, shifts from parental hands to others. Mentors and teachers play a significant role here.
Mentors at the Hastor Foundation play an important role in the lives of younger scholarship recipients: apart from being mentors, they are teachers, guiding them in skills and serving as role models. The Hastor Foundation boasts many scholarship recipients who act as mentors to fellow scholars. This month, we introduce our scholarship recipient, Almina Ibrahimović, and her volunteer group.
Almina Ibrahimović comes from Srebrenica. She is a student at the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Sarajevo, and has been part of the Hastor Foundation family for four years.
The Hastor Foundation made a significant turning point in my life and education. Besides financial aid, it played a major role in expanding my knowledge. By engaging with the Foundation and participating in volunteer activities, I discovered many new things, met numerous wonderful people, some of whom were my mentors guiding me through high school education.
In the Foundation, Almina volunteers as a mentor for high school students from the Center for Blind and Visually Impaired Childern, Sarajevo. Her group consists of three diligent, hardworking, and collaborative students. During their meetings, they tackle topics mainly aimed at raising awareness which are tailored to their age.
Almina and her group had the opportunity to explore the topic Learning How to Learn: Methods and Techniques for Quick and Efficient Knowledge Acquisition, covering the most important and successful learning techniques according to research. To prevent monotony and rote learning, Almina offered solutions for easy and effective knowledge acquisition. Moreover, the students themselves discovered various ways to apply these techniques in any area of interest.
One of the most effective techniques discussed was mind mapping – learning through drawing and coloring. Each member presented the most effective technique, in their case – mind mapping. Drawing and coloring visible pictures ease memory and learning. One student showcased a simpler and more efficient way of solving mathematical problems by breaking down complex numbers step by step. This technique effectively merges seemingly unrelated fields like art and mathematics, proving useful and intriguing, not limited to one sphere of interest.
Since the other two students were unfamiliar with applying this technique to mathematics, they were glad to learn it during their volunteer sessions at the Hastor Foundation. Besides, knowledge can be acquired while listening to favorite melodies. Converting unfamiliar words into texts using entire words or their initial letters and learning them along with a beloved melody helps in holistic memorization. All three students composed lists of hard to remember words and learned them to the tune of their favorite compositions – in this case, Beethoven’s Für Elise. This technique is useful for everyone, especially those involved in or planning to pursue music. As they learn new musical notes, they can also acquire new words. This is just another example of how the Hastor Foundation connects the beautiful and the practical.
Towards the end, Almina emphasized how with each new volunteer meeting, she realizes the importance of her role as a mentor in young people’s lives. She sees how they influence each other and grow together. This motivates her to continue developing her skills and passing them on to younger generations, grateful for the opportunity provided by the Hastor Foundation. This meeting was just one of the many examples of how Hastor Foundation scholarship recipients work together from a young age, sharing their knowledge with others, aware that this is the only way knowledge gains its final and complete meaning.
Prepared by: Aldina Šaljić
