Student Naida Hodžić talks about herself, her experiences and participation in the Trans2Work program

“In a few days I will graduate from the UNSA Faculty of Economics“ says student Naida Hodžić and tells her story describing her as someone ready for lifelong learning.

I was born in Sarajevo, during the Bosnian war, on 31st of December 1994, only ten minutes before new year came, but doctor decided to wrote that I was actually born on 1st of January, 1995 - simply because he thought that is better to be born in the beginning of something new, the year for which everyone was hoping that will bring better things into our lives. I brought some kind of “surprise” to my parents - I was born without left ear. It was a surprise because that was not caused by genetics, but by social and other factors related to horrific events that were happening during the war. I had three surgeries during my childhood and following steps should be done in hospitals abroad, but that would be complicated because these surgeries cost a lot of money. And here I am, 23 and half years later, I am still able to hear 50% in total, but I am truly grateful for everything that made me to become a person that I am today. Having this kind of issue that sometimes caused even greater challenges in school and interactions with people only inspired me to fight harder through my life. I believe that I see things from different perspective and that enabled me to express myself in different ways.
We need to go as far as needed to gain the best knowledge and acquire the skills we need. When I found out about Trans2Work program, I immediately knew that I want to be a part of this unique project and connect with people who have similar issues and be mentored by amazing coordinators included in this program. After the application process was finished and all important info and documents were sent to all included in the project, I was notified that I will be doing my traineeship in Business Innovation Center in Kragujevac. I was happy about it and, of course - I accepted this opportunity!
When I came to Kragujevac, I was amazed by kindness of coordinators from University of Kragujevac as well by business representatives and my mentors in Business Innovation Center. Lucky me - during my first month of traineeship, I had a chance to work on writing the project application for the public Call that Swiss PRO organization announce LS organizations in order to support social-innovative projects, while in the second month I was promoted to a team leader for preparing the organization of Climathon event that will be held soon in the city of Kragujevac. I had a chance to work with one student from the University of Banja Luka (Bosnia and Herzegovina) and with three great students from University of Kragujevac, who were also doing their internship. Participating in Trans2Work project enabled me to improve teamwork and analytical skills and develop meaningful knowledge in project management, even organization, etc.
To conclude this, I recognize that my country, Bosnia and Herzegovina, needs high class professionals of all sorts to take part in the country's development, and my goal is to become one of them. Bosnia and Herzegovina is in a transitional stage at the moment and I am sure that traineeship I done at Business Center of Kragujevac as a part of Trans2Work project activity, will benefit me in more than one way, and that will prepare me for my future challenges. Also, I need to mention that I am really thankful to coordinators of project for University of Sarajevo - three wonderful ladies that were available for any kind of support during whole time and that I cannot wait to inspire other people and youth with some kind of disability to use that as their strength and to fight for better opportunities and create the life they want to live!