As a second year student at Prishtina’s Xhevdet Doda High School and a participant in USAID’s After School Support for Teens program, Stina Demolli has learned a lot. “I learned I’m responsible with what I do with my time…it’s never too early to think and prepare for my future,” she said.
These lessons learned served as inspiration for Stina when, earlier this year, Stina and some of her classmates won the national, USAID-sponsored Design Challenge Competition.
The contest attracted 42 entries from 21 schools across the country; the parameters required student teams to create projects that provided innovative solutions to everyday issues. The ultimate goal of the competition was to provide students with the opportunity to learn the technical and the soft skills necessary to live and work in the 21st century.
For their submission, Stina’s team created a career video. The goal of the video was twofold: for Stina and her teammates to explore career opportunities for themselves, and to expose other students to the ideas and opportunities she and her teammates had discovered.
The video focused on artificial intelligence (AI), a growing field that needs more professionals. Stina’s teacher provided her group with guidance on how to conduct research, communicate, work as a team, exercise leadership skills, take initiative, and be responsible.
Looking back on the process, Stina said, “We all did our individual jobs, so when the whole video came together it really was great and everyone felt that they gave their best.” Now, looking forward, she says, “I am more aware of what skills and knowledge I need to have in order to succeed in the future.”
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