Recently, while looking for something completely different in some old, forgotten boxes, I found a notebook full of my childhood memories. Flipping through it, I came across some interesting notes of a twelve-year-old me. Although apparently naive, the note questions my role in the world, asks itself questions about possible identities and imagines the future.
Smiling at myself from the past, I found myself asking where am I now and how much my thoughts have changed?
The simplest, children's questions can sometimes be the most complicated.
Everyday challenges in which we create our own image of ourselves, the one we want others to see, the interim between everything I wrote once upon a time and who I am today.
Understanding oneself and one’s own identities. Not an identity, but identities. Because there are a number of them in these twenty-four years of my life. Some are inherited, and some are my choice.
I was born in Sarajevo. I finished elementary school and secondary school in Banja Luka, where my parents come from. I grew up in a family of strong women who were and still are my inexhaustible source of inspiration. A very important influence on my character and my view of the world. Responsibility above all and the need for productive activity resulted in me being active in extracurricular activities, numerous organizations of cultural and sporting events already in secondary school. Over one hundred and sixty hours of volunteering during that time speaks for itself. All of this was an excellent basis for the studies that I completed, and graduated from the International University in Sarajevo with a degree in political science and sociology in 2022 with high honors. In parallel, I continued to develop my professional and social skills during my undergraduate studies as a participant in various training sessions, workshops, youth schools and panels, and I am currently pursuing a master's degree in international relations. Poetry and photography are also my two loves.
At this point, I am wondering if the twelve-year-old me would be happy with what I have made of our lives so far?
Can she understand everything that young people live with today, that enormous pressure and influences? In order for her to understand that for reasons I do not understand, some want us to make a choice between Banja Luka and Sarajevo. We belong to them as much as they belong to us. Equally. How difficult is it to understand and accept all imposed and freely chosen identities that make us a unique person? I know for sure that she would agree that there is no surrender, that we have to believe in the ability to produce harmony within ourselves and therefore also in our neighborhood, community and country. She would be proud to be an UNFPA ambassador, to work and build trust and connection among young people through joint work on projects in the fields of art, sports and science that are in the interest of everyone, and through which we will be gradually building dialogue and peace. Because I am convinced, no matter how utopian it sounds, that a positive change must start from the bottom.
It is thanks to the training, experience and education provided by UNFPA that I am ready to be a part of this peace mission in my name and in the name of the twelve-year-old girl from the notebook, found in the box of memories.
