Related Campus Units
Bonner Center for Civic Engagement
Nikolina Talijan, '12
Bonner Scholar highlights importance of education worldwide
July 11, 2012
As a Bonner Scholar and international studies major, Nikolina Talijan volunteered for organizations throughout Richmond and as far as Guatemala, India, and her home country, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
"I’ve worked with youth informally or formally in every country I’ve volunteered in," Talijan said. "I do believe that the only way we can move forward in Bosnia is through education."
In Richmond, Talijan tutored underserved children and youth at two nonprofits, Church Hill Activities and Tutoring and Youth Life Foundation of Richmond, and at Overby-Sheppard Elementary, a city public school. She also worked as a student coordinator at the University’s Bonner Center for Civic Engagement (CCE).
"As a CCE student coordinator for four years, I was able to grow and learn," Talijan said. "I gained support and training, academic counseling, and a broader view of the Richmond community."
During the summer after her freshman year, Talijan volunteered for Perpetuum Mobile, a youth and community development center in Banja Luka, the second largest city in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
"The experience helped me understand my people better," Talijan said.
During her sophomore year, Talijan helped organize a spring break trip to Guatemala with the CCE.
"I fell in love with the experience of serving the community in the morning and taking classes in the evening," Talijan said. "The schedule allowed me to link what I was studying with a real understanding of the organizations I was working for."
As she was planning her next summer, the opportunity to go to India emerged through the Office of International Education.
In India, Talijan took classes in international development and culture, lived with a family, and practiced her Hindi for six weeks, then interned for six weeks with an educational organization.
"You do have to know models, but you can’t just sit in the classroom and design change," Talijan said.
Despite new challenges in a foreign country, Talijan fell in love with the people and culture of India.
"Everywhere you go, there are smiles," Talijan said. "With so little, you have to focus on the spiritual."
After graduation, Talijan returned to Bosnia and Herzegovina to work as a grant writer at Perpetuum Mobile, where she first volunteered as a freshman, then again after her sophomore and junior years.
"I just submitted a proposal to the European Union Commission in Bosnia for the standardization of youth centers in my part of the country," Talijan said. "I feel that I am directly working on education at home."
"I’ve worked with youth informally or formally in every country I’ve volunteered in," Talijan said. "I do believe that the only way we can move forward in Bosnia is through education."
In Richmond, Talijan tutored underserved children and youth at two nonprofits, Church Hill Activities and Tutoring and Youth Life Foundation of Richmond, and at Overby-Sheppard Elementary, a city public school. She also worked as a student coordinator at the University’s Bonner Center for Civic Engagement (CCE).
"As a CCE student coordinator for four years, I was able to grow and learn," Talijan said. "I gained support and training, academic counseling, and a broader view of the Richmond community."
During the summer after her freshman year, Talijan volunteered for Perpetuum Mobile, a youth and community development center in Banja Luka, the second largest city in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
"The experience helped me understand my people better," Talijan said.
During her sophomore year, Talijan helped organize a spring break trip to Guatemala with the CCE.
"I fell in love with the experience of serving the community in the morning and taking classes in the evening," Talijan said. "The schedule allowed me to link what I was studying with a real understanding of the organizations I was working for."
As she was planning her next summer, the opportunity to go to India emerged through the Office of International Education.
In India, Talijan took classes in international development and culture, lived with a family, and practiced her Hindi for six weeks, then interned for six weeks with an educational organization.
"You do have to know models, but you can’t just sit in the classroom and design change," Talijan said.
Despite new challenges in a foreign country, Talijan fell in love with the people and culture of India.
"Everywhere you go, there are smiles," Talijan said. "With so little, you have to focus on the spiritual."
After graduation, Talijan returned to Bosnia and Herzegovina to work as a grant writer at Perpetuum Mobile, where she first volunteered as a freshman, then again after her sophomore and junior years.
"I just submitted a proposal to the European Union Commission in Bosnia for the standardization of youth centers in my part of the country," Talijan said. "I feel that I am directly working on education at home."