Tim za socijalno uključivanje i smanjenje siromaštva

Author: Kristina Đurić (YOUTH ACHIEVEMENTS IN SERBIA, Social Inclusion Blog)

If you asked “What is your occupation?” and someone answered “Political scientist specialized in international policy, working in digital marketing”, what would be your reaction? I think you would be surprised.

Yes, but this is just another proof of the precipitous changes going on worldwide. If someone had told me a few years back that I would be working on digital advertising in a startup with a group of people, primarily friends, that includes blockchain developers, web designers, frontend and backend developers, account managers, I would not have believed them. I would have believed even less that with professional know-how in the field of international relations I would move into the field of digital marketing and complete a master’s degree at the Faculty of Organizational Sciences. (…)

My story of constant change and desire to learn new things originates from my high-school days. I wanted to fill all my free time with a subconscious creation of ideas and plans on how to implement them. I was provided with the opportunity for this by Youth Achievements in Serbia. Now imagine a group of secondary school students creating their own product, winning first prize at a national competition, and representing Serbia at the European competition of student companies. The school resources at the time made it possible for us to experiment and apply our chemistry knowledge to create candles with coloured flames. All through this, the “Svetozar Marković” Gymnasium in Niš, fortunately for me, was part of the Youth Achievements programme. And yes, our product was just one part of the chain of an entire company we named Candela. What we did not know until that point was how to organize a company, how to divide duties, conduct financial assessments and dispose of a budget. It was also important for us not to damage our friendships and to maintain a sufficiently professional, let’s say, internal company culture to avoid unnecessary conflicts mediated by interest, mutual competition and greed. (…)

When someone gives you the freedom to express your thoughts, and gives you guidelines on how you can try to implement your thought or idea, it is the beginning of learning. The end may be successful or unsuccessful, but you can draw a lesson out of everything. After completing not only the Student Company programme, but also other programmes under the auspices of Youth Achievements in Serbia, I can list several lessons. The first is that if you do not know something, loan it to yourself – make an effort, try to learn, because nobody can learn for you. Furthermore, anything that people have come up with – cannot be impossible to learn. The only issue is how much time needs to be set aside for leaning and whether that is, in fact, the goal you are trying to achieve. The second is: express your idea, be its creator and implementer. Just as there are no stupid questions, there are no stupid ideas. Perhaps your idea is just the thing to bring about a revolutionary change. The third is: get moving. Movement is something human beings cannot live without. We even move in our sleep. Why do I say movement? Because it reminds me of constant change.

My desire to constantly learn new things at Youth Achievements led me through the world of entrepreneurship, my travel across Europe made me work in international relations and the political system of countries worldwide, and the combination of the two has led me to the world of digital marketing. I am currently working in an environment with people with whom I am creating something new – whether this is working on our product, or whether it is creating value for a client. Furthermore, the entrepreneurial spirit and teamwork I have experienced through the Youth Achievements programmes have made it possible for me to establish contacts worldwide and create lifelong friendships. The most important thing for me, though, is to learn and analyse. (…)

The text in its entirety can be found at the Social Inclusion Blog.