Association provides opportunities to new Balkan generation

This year they began a program to provide students of Balkan origin the chance to carry out internships in Turkey and next year they will be offering even more internship opportunities.

FEBA was founded in 2008 by people from the Balkans living in the US in order to promote the rich and diverse culture of their homelands. FEBA has organized various educational and cultural activities such as an annual Balkan leaders reception, international conferences, lectures and seminars, workshops, a Balkan film festival, a Balkan food and culture festival, sports tournaments, youth nights, art exhibits, concerts, movie screenings, business network receptions, trips to the Balkans, afterschool programs, language courses and informational programs. All of these programs and activities help connect people with other countries around the world in order to share their culture, knowledge and experiences. This association offers a variety of opportunities for young people to improve, prepare and become future leaders.

This year, for the first time, FEBA offered internships to students and recent graduates. Over 170 interns from the United States are currently located throughout Turkey. The internships commenced on May 20 and will continue until Aug. 20. Students were assigned to their work experience placements according to their field of studies.

A variety of companies opened their doors to FEBA’s first interns, including the Foreign Relations and EU Coordination Council Center, Today’s Zaman, Bank Asya, King Paulo, Çalık Holding and Fatih University. “This internship has allowed me to examine Turkey from a business and political perspective.” Lejla Kadric, an intern who worked for the Foreign Relations and EU Coordination Center, said about her experience.

The job requires the interns to examine and compare the Turkish government with the US government. Additionally, the interns need to learn the process of what the government is doing to integrate Turkey into the EU. The interns have the opportunity to meet different organizations in order to get a well-rounded experience with regard to being able to understand how the Turkish government is structured.

“This experience will further my career in the international environment and I will become more aware of different regions as well.” Kadric said. “The first thing for me is to have international experience for networking reasons. I personally wanted to network with a country that’s capable of providing strong support for my career. Other than that, I want my internship to help me further develop my skills.” Maida Nikocevic said of her experiences and achievements so far. “My future plan is to get another job, a better one than I have now. You know, step up the ladder in my career. In my case I would like to work for another, more powerful design company and I also plan on travelling more.” Nikocevic emphasizes when asked about her future.

This is not the only opportunity that FEBA provides for students. The program also gives these future leaders a chance to develop through a program called Teach and Travel, which they do after their internship. This enables them to teach native Turkish speakers the English language throughout Turkey.

FEBA’s ultimate goal is to push students to become the future’s business leaders through a diverse and rich experience when it comes to internships or other programs that have been created and will continue to be created in the future. Twenty companies have offered work experience placements to FEBA for the upcoming year.

FEBA President Aras Konjihodzic said at a recent meeting with the interns: “Personally, I feel in my heart that in the last 150 years we in the Balkans have experienced systematic terror and the purpose was to make us non-existent, which is a huge injustice. This generation has to be aware of its culture. So why is FEBA doing this? To show that we do exist! We don’t want to lose you. … We want you guys to be the leaders!”