Miljana Vujičić – Serbia (Roma Internationl Scholarship Program)

My name is Miljana Vujič and currently I’m a Master student at the University of Nice, Sophia Antipolis in France. I am studying  computer science with a basis in entrepreneurship and finances in hopes that I can fulfil my dream of  creating my own IT enterprise one day. I come from a small city in Serbia called, Trstenik where I’ve lived for about 17 years. At the age of 18,  I started higher education in Belgrade at the Faculty of Organizational Sciences with a major in Information Systems and Technologies. During the last three years of my studies in Belgrade, I was a REF scholarship holder and currently I am completing my Masters abroad also with financial, professional, and personal support from REF’s Roma International Scholarship Program (RISP). REF’s financial support has had a crucial function during my educational path because it permitted me to buy the laptop I needed so much and of course to buy books, scripts and other necessary materials in order to finish my studies in the best terms.

The reason I’ve chose IT as a career was due to the potential and growth the industry in Serbia and in the world generally. If  I work hard enough and make myself competent on the market, I am going to be well paid with a good job and can have a nice life. Of course, it is not that easy and a certain passion about computers and programming is necessary in order to do the job of a computer science engineer. My father bought me a PC when I was 11. I remember being obsessed with video games and the functionalities of computers. I spent a lot of time exploring the internet and learning English with my father and my younger sister. Actually, my father was the one who proposed me to consider IT as my future professional calling. My family gave me and still gives me a lot of support. They have always believed in me and without their support everything would be a lot harder.   

I’ve always been a good student which means having good grades and passing all exams in anticipated deadline, so I was hoping to be chosen by a prestigious and successful IT company to be their intern. And exactly that happened. This year, starting in March, I will join an international company called AMADEUS for six months with the possibility to stay working for them if my internship goes well.

Volunteering has also been very important to me. I have volunteered in the Red Cross for many years working as a local coordinator in the Human Rights Promotion Program, which aims to raise awareness among young people about the problem of discrimination against Roma. Then, I participated in tribunes and conferences that send young Roma messages about the importance of formal and non-formal education. By observing people in my environment and growing up among people who are suffering from poverty and discrimination, I felt obliged to react and do what is in my power. Maybe that is not a lot, but it is something and I am happy if I succeeded to make someone’s day better and just to make someone smile and to make him or her believe in a better tomorrow.