Amina Omeragić – Gradačac: Since she has become a member of ASU BiH, she is thinking about staying here and changing things in the society

Hana:

Amina Omeragić is 18 years old. She is from Gradačac and she is an activist of the Association of Secondary School Students in Bosnia and Herzegovina (ASU BiH), and as of recently also a coordinator of the local team Gradačac ASU BiH.

How did you join ASU BiH, why did you become active?

It all somehow started last year, when I applied for a seminar and when I heard about ASU BiH. Then I was asking around how to become a member, and that is the moment when my activism story started. Today is the first anniversary, I think, of my membership at ASU BiH.

What would you tell other secondary school students that do not have information on the advantages of ASU BiH?

ASU BiH is simply the best thing that can happen to one during secondary school education, because today’s educational system does not offer enough. We simply do not get sufficient knowledge and skills we need in order to be successful in the 21^st century, an age of technology, where communication skills are very much needed and where everything we learn during informal education is what we use most.

Would you particularly stress some activities that you were implementing?

Given the fact that last year we were very active and participated in various seminars, trainings, etc. I would mention the last year’s exchange, ”Peace in Action”, then a Social Day, which was held for the first time last year, a project that was also financed from the Social Day fund, called ”A book is knowledge, sharing knowledge is a great wisdom”.

That project was implemented in order to buy books for two secondary schools – the combined secondary school ”Hasan Kikić”, and grammar school ”Mustafa Novalić”, and the whole amount donated by ASU BiH was used to purchase books that were distributed at the two secondary schools. So, in spite of the fact that I, for example, am not a student of the grammar school, but rather combined secondary school, this has not prevented me from doing this project in parallel and avoiding that all the funds are allocated to only one school. This means that this is a benefit for all secondary school students in general.

What are you planning to do after secondary school?

I am planning to study after secondary school. I have several options, but have not made a final decision, because I am currently attending secondary economic school. So, that I will probably study economics or social sciences.

Are you thinking about leaving Bosnia and Herzegovina?

Well, before I became a member of ASU BiH, all my aspirations and goals were focused on going abroad. However, once one becomes a member of ASU BiH, one simply… this wish is still there, but one wishes more and more to stay here and change things. Because one sees that it is possible, and that the number of secondary school students is growing, every year these are simply persons with new visions and ideas that make all of us wish to stay here, irrespective of the current possibilities.

On this occasion, I would also like to invite secondary school students that are still not members of ASU BiH, to join the local teams and become part of the best story in Bosnia and Herzegovina.