Stella Hrvatin

My name is Stella Hrvatin, I am 21 years old and I live in Opatija. I finished primary and secondary school with a grade point average of 5.0 and the status of a student of the generation, and now I am studying Sustainable Development and International Relations and Management at the Faculty of Economics and business, University of Rijeka. In my free time, I enjoy walks and good food, and the batteries are occasionally full of short weekend trips.

You are currently studying at two colleges. How did you decide to enroll in EFRI? What are your impressions and did your expectations come true?

In the first year of my primary study of Sustainable Development and International Relations, I became very interested in socially responsible business. I think that the role of companies in sustainable development is extremely important and that they are the stakeholders who can take concrete action and make the biggest changes. In order to better understand economic sustainability, entrepreneurial perspective and strengthen my knowledge of finance, management and marketing, I decided to enroll in business economics at the Faculty of Economics, University of Rijeka. When I chose the second study, the interesting thing about the program, the number of successful alumni and the quality of cooperation with the business sector prevailed. I am very pleased with EFRI initiatives such as Career Week, study visits, seminars, guest lectures and opportunities to do internships in partner companies. I think it is very important that students can apply the learned theory in practice as soon as possible. All these initiatives help us a lot. Most of the courses met my expectations, and I have already used the knowledge I gained in marketing and management in the development of my entrepreneurial idea. The program is very well designed and the one who came to learn will really learn a lot. Different puzzles of knowledge just agree with each other, form a broader picture and allow us to see the world with different eyes. I love that "aha" moment, when everything finally falls into place!

In addition, you are still on an ERASMUS study exchange in Milan. Given the epidemiological situation caused by the global pandemic, what is it like to be currently on an international exchange?

I have been thinking about Erasmus for a long time and this year I finally decided to participate. I chose Italy because of the Italian language and their culture that I adore. I chose IULM, the University of Milan where I study strategic marketing, sustainable development in tourism, branding of cities and countries, destination management and Italian language. Their program attracted me the most because of the amount of practical work and collaboration with professionals. I listen to half of the subjects in English and half in Italian and I am very happy that I managed to improve my communication skills. Due to the frequent closures in Milan, I decided to follow the lectures online. I must say that everything is well organized, guests from different companies and parts of Italy join us online, lectures have remained very interactive, and we often work in groups in our "breakout" rooms. They strongly emphasize practical experience, so I am currently working on three different projects in three different groups, one more interesting than the other is.

There is a lot of work, but personally, I think it is the best way to learn. Despite being online, I have made many new acquaintances and I hope that one day we will still have the opportunity go to a real Milanese Aperitivo. Overall, I would recommend everyone to dare to exchange and thus combine pleasant with useful.

"My goal is to become, first, a manager in the department of sustainable development, and later to establish a company that will advise small and medium enterprises in creating a CSR - strategy, implementing it and monitoring the results. I want to learn and develop my skills so that I can help companies become more profitable and make society more sustainable by applying socially responsible business models.”

You also participated in the YUFE introductory program. What is your experience?

The news that EFRI has become part of the network of young universities in Europe made me very happy and I immediately applied for the competition. We had the opportunity to choose only two courses, and as there were a lot of interested people and few places, I finally managed to get into the course Digital Business in Tourism from a university in Finland. Our lectures were pre-recorded and all the materials were on Merlin so that everyone could organize a schedule for himself or herself and learn at their own pace. During the 2 months that the program lasted, we had several small exams and two practical papers. First paper analyzed the business of one company in tourism, and the second asked us to create a digital business strategy for the company of our choice. The experience is great and I am very happy to have had this opportunity.

Your area of ​​interest is sustainable development. Why this area? What influenced your decision to direct your career towards that area?

I have a very wide range of interests, I like challenges, I am proactive and ambitious, I always prefer to look at the bigger picture than focus on details and I do not like to be pessimistic but always think what can be different and better. Sustainable development is an area that suits my character very well, and at the same time, I feel great because I know that the knowledge I gain will help me offer solutions to some of the social and environmental problems that concern us all.

Sustainable development is an interdisciplinary field that requires a wide range of knowledge and is very ungrateful given that a solution can almost never be found that will satisfy all stakeholders equally, but provides many opportunities. Above all, it allows me to be part of a positive change in society. Often people have the idea that sustainable development is synonymous with environmental protection, but this is a completely wrong approach. Sustainable development encompasses economic, social and environmental sustainability, only when we have a balance between these three areas can we achieve sustainable development. I decided to focus on socially responsible business. This is a concrete way for companies to contribute to the UN 2030 Agenda. My goal is to become, first, a manager in the department of sustainable development, and later to establish a company that will advise small and medium enterprises in creating a CSR strategy, implementing it and monitoring the results. I want to learn and develop my skills so that I can help companies become more profitable and make society more sustainable by applying socially responsible business models. With the new EU Commission, the emphasis is on the circular economy, social responsibility and sustainability reporting, which encourages me to continue to study and work diligently.

How do you work on developing your career outside of formal education?

I often participate in workshops and conferences and accept every opportunity that allows me to be in touch with people from whom I can learn a lot about sustainable development. For example, I am currently participating in the Academy of Corporate Social Responsibility organized by IDOP. The participants of the academy are mostly representatives of the CSR department of some of the largest Croatian companies, and I have the opportunity to be with them in groups where we work on devising CSR strategies, discussing impacts on sustainable development goals and discussing current industry trends. I would advise my colleagues to follow the activities that take place in the sector where they would like to work and to use their student days for research, learning and networking. It will all pay off for them eventually.

You participated in the Academy of Regional Development and EU Funds; tell us a little more about the project and what have you gained by participating? 

The Academy of Regional Development and EU Funds is a program of the Ministry of Regional Development and EU Funds which seeks to bring EU projects and project management closer to students. At the Academy, teams compete with each other by performing tasks prepared by the Ministry, through which the participants are acquainted with EU projects in Croatia. In addition to the tasks, there are workshops where practical experts introduce students to EU structural instruments, project writing, applying for tenders and project implementation. The program is very interactive and during the workshops, we work in groups on specific project proposals. My team and I ended up earning our places on a study trip to Brussels based on excellent assignments, where we spent two days in European institutions learning about youth programs. We had the opportunity to talk to representatives of the European Commission and visit the premises of the Council of the EU and the Commission. As part of the Academy, I had the opportunity to organize a mini-conference "EU projects in the service of sustainable development" which was very useful for the development of my organizational and communication skills. 

Can you tell us more about the competitions you participated in? That is, how did you decide to apply and what did you get by participating?

I have been participating in various competitions since primary school. I love to test myself and set new challenges. In my student days, I mostly participate in case study competitions, and would like to single out the first place in the Lumen competition organized by eStudent and everything that followed. I solved the case "Disposal of edible oil waste" presented by INA, which was related to corporate social responsibility. My team won first place and after the competition I contacted INA's human resources department and asked for an internship in the department of sustainable development. My mentor was great! She explained to me how what I learn in college looks like in practice, showed me what my working day might look like in the future and what are all the tasks and responsibilities of sustainable development professionals, which only confirmed my desire for further development in the field of CSR. Each of these competitions forced me to apply my knowledge to specific business situations, to research and think out of the box. It is very useful for students to work on real business cases and get insight into current problems that companies face, and we should not forget that great solutions would definitely catch the eye of recruiters.

"We all have equal chances of success, but one should be aware that it does not fall from the sky.”

Which competition would you highlight and why?

Perhaps my favorite is the last competition I participated in, which is "Pokretač" organized by Studentski.hr. It is a competition in social entrepreneurship where students have the opportunity to show their innovative ideas. In the first round of the competition, it is necessary to present the idea in business canvas model and the top 10 make it to the finals, where a three-minute pitch business plan is presented to an expert jury. At that competition, I presented my idea of an application that helps young talents gain their first work experience, and I won an award for it, which further encouraged me to start developing.

You are currently in the process of creating a very interesting application. Please tell us more about it r. How did you get the idea and what can we expected from it?

As I have pointed out several times, I think it is very important that young people gain their first work experiences during their student days, introduce themselves to employers, explore their talents and actively work on their skills. However, we are all well aware that it is often not easy to get the opportunity and that are a small number of employers who will give the opportunity to complete beginners. From that problem idea for application was born, a place where students can look for opportunities and employers look for talents. Unlike all other platforms currently on the market, the application allows employers to publish their project, describe what problem they have and assign students a task, and based on the received solutions, allow the best student to put the solution into practice. Students can choose projects that are in line with their career plan or try something completely new. The most important thing is that no one will judge them based on previous experience or formal education, but based on knowledge and skills shown in their solution. This opens a large base of talents and new ideas to employers, and students will get the opportunity for internships and work experiences. What is great is that even when they do not get an internship or a job, their efforts were not in vain because for every solution sent, they will receive employers feedback from  which they can learn and further develop.

How do you manage to balance all the obligations? Any advice?

I think the most important thing is to know how to set realistic goals, set priorities and estimate well how much time it takes to complete a task. What I learned from a young age is that it is best to do everything on time and not procrastinate. Once it all builds up it is hard to get back into rhythm. There is no better thing than when after a long week full of obligations you see the ticks on the to do list and feel relief because everything is done properly and on time

A message for the end?

He who has a clear goal and a great desire will succeed in any field and anywhere in the world. When a person is ambitious, persistent and diligent, he will overcome any challenge that comes his way. Moreover, the bigger the challenge, the sweeter the enjoyment of success is! We all have equal chances of success, but one should be aware that it does not s not fall from the sky.