BELLSPIRATION CLUB - DESANTILA MURIQI: When I was a kid, I wanted to be a President (Part 1/4)

1) Dear Desantila, we tie activism, optimism, Positivity Challenge to you ... But who is really Desantila, what does she dream about, what does she love and what does she do? For the readers of the Bellspiration blog, introduce yourself, so we can all get to know you.

Hi hi 😊 I am Desantila, from Kosovo. If I were to describe myself in three words, those would be Open-Minded, Ambitious, and Rebellious 😊 I speak five languages and hold a great passion for culture and international relations. I am also a lover of science and nature. I utilize my curious character to volunteer for numerous organizations, having traveled across Europe on a number of projects as a representative of Kosovo. This has enabled me to expand my network with people of diverse backgrounds. Moreover, I have recently been selected as a Young European Attaché for Western Balkans, and I will have this tenure for 3 years.

I am currently pursuing my studies in French Language and Literature at The University of Prishtina, as well as Engineering of Efficient Energy at the University for Business and Technology. This year I have received an associate degree from RIT Kosovo in Public Policy & Governance. Crazy, right? Well... How do I manage to do it? To be honest, I do not even know. I would say that the most important thing is ambition and perseverance. Yes, several times spending sleepless nights, stressful days, as well as many ups and downs. However, do I regret what I am doing? Never!

I am a very spontaneous person, and if there is one thing that all this is teaching me, that is time management. While two years ago, I literally did nothing but study, the second year of my studies I had much more time for everything. And that’s not because things got easier, the opposite actually, but I mastered the skill of prioritizing.

Why am I doing this? Well, I will start by telling you that when I was a kid, whenever somebody asked me what my dream job is, I immediately said PRESIDENT and went on discussing the need for reforms. After all, the situation was really bad and according to the 5-year-old Desantila, I was the solution apparently 😀 This should show you the kind of person I am. I have very high expectations of myself, often higher than possible lol.

So, the reason I decided to pursue my studies in three different universities is basically that in the last year of high school, most of my friends had already found their careers and knew what they wanted. While I, on the other hand, had no clue. Not because I did not like anything. Simply because I loved too many things. While throughout my life I was passionate about natural sciences and spending time on my own with different theories and research, on the other hand, I also loved social sciences, people, and diversity. Yes, it would have been easier if I decided on one or the other, however, that was not what I wanted. I didn’t want to limit myself and live to regret it later. Hence why, with the endless support of my family I took this decision.

2) What is "Success" by your definition and how to achieve it?

For me, success is achieving whatever your goals are. Long term success is created from short term success. I feel like we are often blinded by this idea of the final success and as such, we do not see our daily achievements. To me, success is living each day to the fullest. As my grandpa always told me, not starting a day without a set of achievable goals (Please keep in mind the word Achievable) and, not ending a day without counting what has been achieved.

For me, the key to success is believing in yourself (as cliché as it may sound) and not looking at this world as a competition with others. I think that the only person you should compete with is yourself. Stop trying to motivate yourself by comparing your success to others, stop dragging yourself down, and trying to achieve things that aren’t even what you want, just because you want to prove your self-worth! In the end, if you achieve your full potential, you will achieve what you want, and together with the successful others, you will even manage to improve the world in whatever your cause is. We all have something to offer, and we have to unify those by collaboration.

Another key, I believe, is hard work and perseverance. Don’t be scared of others’ successes, embrace those, and be happy for everyone. Of course, time management is also crucial. Use your time wisely and believe me you’ll have time to fulfill your personal and professional daily goals (check my answer to the first question 😀). Yes, work hard, however, also be surrounded by the ones you truly love. This being said, throw toxicity away, and use your time for things that matter. Make people happy, be active, support, and be supported. Don’t miss the fun family trips, don’t say no to the chill weekend evenings with your friends, watch movies, documentaries… read as much as you can, sing, dance, go to nature and shout it all out, dance in the rain and enjoy all the little things. Don’t be afraid to love and be loved. You have time for everything, and those all add to each other. So, don’t ever think you’re wasting time by doing those. Enjoy the little things, be grateful, trust the process, and be successful. Be successful the way you want to be, and choose the road which makes you happy and fulfilled. This way you will not only achieve making yourself happy but also all the ones who truly appreciate you. 💓

3) Thank you from the bottom of my heart for being a member of the Bellspiration Club and for sharing your experiences with us in the coming weeks and inspiring us! What are your expectations from the Bellspiration Club?

I look forward to meeting the other members and forming new friendships with successful and inspiring people from our beautiful region 💗

Moreover, I look forward to sharing info about myself and I would be more than happy if people reading your blog reach out to me. One of my biggest goals in life is to use my experience and knowledge for helping others. Especially to those who are now going through the dilemma of choosing their careers, I would love to give them a hand as it is what I’ve recently been going through. It has personally been the hardest period of my life and I know how it feels. However, please don’t take it very close to your heart. So what if you spent one year studying something and then find out that’s not what you want? There is always another year to restart. The knowledge you gained is never time wasted.

I believe that the attitude of our society towards youth (treating them like children and doing everything for them until the last year of high school and then pressuring them to make the biggest decision of their lives by themselves. Even worse, the other scenario in which the parents don’t even let their children decide and choose their careers instead! ) is not right. I think that we are so stuck with the thought that one decision determines our lives and there’s no going back. Yes, that decision is important, however, it’s not a life or death decision. There are endless opportunities, and also, I don’t believe that in the lives we are living we only will have one profession forever.
So, just follow your dreams and be flexible. Also, please, please, please, listen to others’ advice, however, please, more than anything, listen to yourselves. No matter what your dream job is, you can and you will have a great life if you work hard for it!

Thank you very much for your appreciation and opportunity Belma. I hope that I, as part of your club, will achieve to be Bellspirative 😊