Mentorship Success Stories Vol. 45345 - Marina and Ismet

Tittle? Well, we did not lost count, we are just proud of dozens of success stories that our newest mentorship program produced. The program is almost over, and we have a few more success stories to tell. This time we bring a fantastic story of Ismet Sokoljanin in a role of a mentor and Marina Milanovski, young and talented girl who is just about to start her studies. Here is how, both of them, experienced this unique opportunity. We will start with Ismet's experience:

„In my opinion, supporting young people at the beginning of their careers to learn and develop into successful professionals and hard-working people with ambitions to create a better society and living conditions in BiH is a professional challenge but also an obligation for all of us who have the opportunity to help. It was exactly the reason why I decided to apply for Mentorship program started by BH Futures Foundation in January this year.

Through the mentoring program, I had the opportunity to help Marina Milanovski, a great and talented girl from Vareš who has recently graduated from the Medical High School and got enrolled at the Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Sarajevo - Department of Management.

It is not rare that young people feel disoriented after graduating from high school and have no clear idea what to do next. They are faced with many choices and the burden of a decision that is not easy. However, that was not the case with Marina. She knew what she wanted from the beginning and that is why I have initially devoted a lot of time to check how firm that decision is and how much Marina knows her capacities to achieve what she wants. When I found out that her decision was firm enough and that Marina had exceptional capacities, it was a pleasure to work with someone who is so eager for knowledge and who has such work habits as Marina has.

Since I have been directly involved in youth development activities for more than 10 years, in the Tuzla Community Foundation, where I work, as well as in other organizations, I think it is very important to support each other in creating a better environment for young people, and not only within the sector, but also through the cooperation of the academic community, business and the diaspora. It is the BH Futures Foundation mentoring program that is focused on the development of young professionals through this cooperation and I am glad to be a part of that.

It is important that stories like Marina's have an echo, that there are as many of them as possible, and that in addition to supporting the individual development of young people, we create an institutional framework that will enable these young people to develop and create a better BiH society.“

Let's now check what does it mean for Marina to have a mentor, and how have this program helped her achieve her goals:

„For me, to have a mentor means to have a person who would help you get to know yourself in the best way and improve your skills. Through this process, I have learned that a mentor may not be a person who will help you achieve your life goals, but is a person who will give you tips on how to reach those goals on your own. Skills such as rational decision making, time and resources management, precision and perseverance in achieving goals are the "little things" that have helped me a lot and that can show us how to make our dreams become true. I am grateful to my mentor for such "little things" because they actually helped me to get enrolled at the desired faculty, get an accommodation scholarship and finally get admitted to the Academy for Civil Leaders of the SHL Foundation. Because of all the above, I am honoured and pleased to be a part of this program and I am honoured to have the opportunity to work with my mentor“.

We are very proud of Marina and Ismet and wish them a lot of success in further work and cooperation, that will extend, without any doubts, beyond the mentorship program. Also, we wish a good luck to Marina with her studies.