All our scholarship recipients, both current and former, often remind us of the treasure trove of wealth and uniqueness that the community of our volunteers holds! In this month’s newsletter, we are pleased to introduce our former scholarship recipient, Naida Čomor Alić. Naida hails from Stoc, a town in Bosnia and Herzegovina located along the banks of the Bregava River.
Naida became a scholarship recipient of the Hastor Foundation during her high school education. Reflecting on the time she spent as a scholarship recipient, she fondly recalls how the knowledge and experience she gained from the Hastor Foundation significantly helped her in her education and later in her career.
It’s truly reassuring to have support and encouragement behind you, which is unfortunately rare in today’s world,” she says. “The Foundation challenges us to become better people—educated and successful—and to be, as we often heard, leaders, thereby representing the Foundation that has always been our great support.
The skills Naida acquired at the Foundation, which she has successfully implemented, include mentorship and teamwork. She effectively applies mentorship as a proper way to pass knowledge to younger generations in her current job and the courses she leads. Teamwork is an essential link for the successful execution of projects, contributing to personal growth, team development, and ultimately, the advancement of the company.
Naida is now an employee at Geobiro d.o.o Konjic, and she fondly remembers how the scholarship came at just the right time: when it truly mattered, both materially and in expanding her circle of friends. Some friendships last to this day, and she believes this is something all scholarship recipients take pride in. She also emphasizes how wonderful it was to meet her mentors and work with them. Meetings were mostly held in school facilities, where they learned together and attempted to solve everyday problems. Volunteering at the kindergarten holds special memories for her.
As a passionate lover of mathematics and physics, she aimed for a university that would allow her to expand her knowledge in these fields, ultimately enrolling in the Faculty of Civil Engineering in Mostar, where she earned her bachelor’s degree and later a master’s degree in civil engineering.
During her studies, she served as a mentor in elementary and high schools in Stoc. Through her mentorship, she aimed to share her knowledge and experience to assist younger scholarship recipients in choosing their universities. Joint meetings, outings, walks, studying, and socializing among scholarship recipients beautifully marked that part of Naida’s life.
Regarding her connection to the Hastor Foundation, Naida highlights a particularly fond memory of her trip to the Netherlands. In her final year of university, Naida participated in the project “Summer Break in the Netherlands,” serving as a mentor guide for a group of children from Olovo.
It was truly something special and hard to put into words. Saying goodbye to my parents and family, going to another country, and then witnessing the enjoyment and joy of the children—along with the happiness of having such an opportunity—were indeed special parts of that journey.
