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Alumni Instructor Series: Dunja from Bosnia and Herzegovina

Dunjaheadsh

By Dunja Jezeraskic (YES 2014-2015, Bosnia and Herzegovina, hosted by AYUSA in San Antonio, TX)

After returning to my home country of Bosnia and Herzegovina, I was inspired to give back to my community and spread unity and interfaith harmony through projects I organized with the help of the YES alumni community in Bosnia.

Cityreps Bosnia 1
The city representatives of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2015

YES transformed my life in many aspects. I came home after spending a year in the U.S. with a greater sense of who I am and what I stand for.  Being surrounded by people from diverse backgrounds shaped my interests and my future career goals.

The exchange experience cannot be summed up in words as it is so transformative and crucial to one's life. It allowed me to view the world from a different perspective and made me appreciate everything I have in my life. I altered a very toxic and pessimistic view that I had of the world prior to my exchange year, replacing it with an open and inquisitive point of view that tied me more to my peers, community, and country. I found myself wanting to contribute to the world, and I was able to extend my empathy to all human beings, not just to myself and the people I care about. I know this personal change is a result of the combined interactions I had during my stay in the U.S. and the fact that I was forced to be more introspective in a foreign setting. 

Project
Collections for a toy and book donation drive for a local orphanage

I am currently studying political science at the Faculty of Political Science in Zagreb, Croatia. My focus is on environmental and animal rights activism, which is something I am very passionate about.

I am extremely honored to be selected as one of the YES DC Orientation Alumni Instructors for this year. It has always been one of my great desires to teach at DCOs because I cannot express how much joy, passion, and love the YES program brings to me. It represents all of the values I stand for, and I feel it is my responsibility to contribute to it as much as I can and do everything in my power to spread its message.

I dream of working in this fulfilling and meaningful field. I cannot thank the YES program enough. It is a program and an experience that keeps on giving.

Jajce
Former Alumni Coordinator Davor Tunjić and I at the Digital Storytelling Workshop in Jajce

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