From Živinice to Stanford – Lejla Tuholjaković’s journey is proof that dedication, knowledge and vision can lead to the most prestigious academic addresses in the world.
Lejla Tuholjaković from Živinice has achieved remarkable success – she was accepted to the prestigious LL.M. program in corporate governance at Stanford Law School, the top-ranked law school in the United States.
She was selected among 20 students from around the world, and in addition to Stanford, she was also accepted to other leading American universities, including Columbia, UPenn, Cornell, NYU, University of Michigan, Northwestern and Berkeley.
This young lawyer, who currently works in Vienna as a legal advisor at the global law firm CMS, emphasizes that the key to her success is hard work, perseverance, international education and experience, and cross-sector skills at the intersection of law and economics. Lejla practices banking, finance and transaction law and advises banks and corporations in the areas of financing and investment, while simultaneously working on her doctoral dissertation in credit law at the University of Vienna.
During her career, she has worked on numerous projects, including financing hotels, logistics and shopping centers for international financial institutions and corporations. She describes her career as a combination of law and numbers, and it was this combination that attracted her to the world of banking and finance.
“I am proud to represent Bosnia and Herzegovina at Stanford and spread a positive word about my homeland,” says Lejla. Although her work today is part of the international legal market, she gained her educational foundation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where she won more than 70 awards and recognitions in mathematics, piano and art during her education. Through her work and mentorship, she strives to inspire young talents from BiH and help them achieve their academic and professional goals.
“What I would advise young people who want to study abroad is to stay curious, work on building their personality, be open to acquiring a wide range of knowledge and skills, and be persistent in achieving their own goals, because in the end, the most persistent always win. Knowledge is power, but a wider range of skills is equally important,” emphasizes Lejla, who also volunteers as a mentor at the Bosnia & Herzegovina Futures Foundation.
When asked what she considers to be the key factors that helped her get accepted – especially among such a small number of applicants, she answers that it is important to have a unique story.
“A huge number of qualified professionals with impeccable biographies, academic and professional success apply to world-renowned universities. Regardless, it is also important to find something that other people do not have, to know how to tell your unique story and be original. It is important to show the university how you bring specific experience and different views on the world,” says Lejla.
After a year of study at Stanford, which begins in August of this year, she plans to take the bar exam in New York, which will contribute to the further development of her career on the path to a dual qualification as a lawyer in Austria and the United States.
Lejla completed elementary school in Živinice, Meša Selimović Gymnasium and the High School of Music in Tuzla. Her success can be an inspiration.
“The success of one young person is the success of all of us as a society,” says Lejla Tuholjaković, whose story is a true example of how hard work, work and perseverance can pay off and open the doors of the world’s greatest institutions, Tuzlanski.ba writes.
