Sejla Aganovic’s activist story dates back to 2014, when she, as a volunteer at the Red Cross, actively participated in helping the victims of the great floods that hit our country. First Aid instructor, certified nursing, organizer of international seminars, training, leadership training, social justice, project management, facilitator and project coordinator within the Youth Bank Network Žepče, participant in training for professional associates for Youth Work at the Institute for Youth Development KULT, fellow of BH Futures Foundation are just some of the responsibilities this young girl has carried out.
Meanwhile, Sejla successfully graduates from high school and decides to enroll in the Electrical Engineering Department at International Burch University and, based on the great recommendations of her friends, comes to a place that will enrich her knowledge and contribute to her professional development. At the very beginning of her studies, Sejla joins the Embedded System and Design Club, where she and her team win the Kick-off competition. As a reward, they received a registration fee for their participation in the 2018 IEEE Congress.
The engineering world represented from this angle thrills this young activist, who quietly, in secret, promises to herself that in 2019, she will be standing on stage at the 2019 IEEE Congress. That idea and dream came true by attending a congress in Banja Luka in November 2019, where she presented her idea. In addition, Sejla joins the organizing team of the Start Me Up competition, where she intensively works on the preparation and organization of Start Up for both university students and high school students.
Despite numerous engagements, Sejla with a brilliant average grade completes the first year of study, and thanks to her average and activism in the second year, she is named one of the most active students in the past academic year.
At the end of 2019, Mozaik Foundation invites Sejla to participate as a speaker in the ceremonial event of launching the Lonac.pro platform.
“Being an example of a young person who used almost everything I could find on the Internet in my time, the goal was to show how much effort it takes for young people in BiH to find all the opportunities they have and I am happy to be involved in the development of this platform since its foundation, ”says Sejla proudly.
Lonac.pro is a platform that offers unification of all BiH youth opportunities in one place and is considered to be something Bosnia and Herzegovina really needed. The actors who were a part of this story and gave great support to Sejla are: Larisa Halilovic – Director of the British Council, Zeljko Paukovic – Director of the Youth Bank Program at the Mozaik Foundation, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Jasmin Kevric – Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Vernisa Rejhan- member of the Executive Board of the BH Futures Foundation, and Zorana Tovilovic- representative of the Institute for Youth Development KULT.
Sejla is currently a sophomore in the Electrical Engineering Department, the president of the Embedded Club and a student assistant in the Physics course.
When it comes to future steps and plans, this young and very ambitious student says: ” My plan is to complete a bachelor’s degree at IBU, and I would like to exchange in one of the next semesters through the ERASMUS + program offered by my University.
I will certainly continue to be an activist, and I will strive to improve my professional development at BH Futures Foundation, as I will soon get a professional mentor. In 5 years from now, I see myself as a Master of Electrical Engineering, and I plan to enroll in a master’s program somewhere outside Bosnia and Herzegovina, and I would like it to be the UK, after which I will return to BiH and invest knowledge in the progress and success of young people in our country.”
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Jasmin Kevric, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, points out that he proudly attended the program organized by the Mozaik Foundation and was Sejla’s support on behalf of our University.
“Sejla is not only one of the most active students who has become a great representative of Burch University students with her work and success, but also a young person who is bravely achieving her goals and is also an example to young people that they need to fight for a better tomorrow for all of us,” prof. Kevric concluded.
So far, Sejla has put a special focus on working with young people and improving the position of young people in order to be able to develop themselves in our country in all fields. We hope that the story of this young and ambitious girl, our student, will be an example to other young people that so much can be achieved with hard work and will.