Stories

Katarina reflects on winning the JA Young Leader Award in Slovakia

This autumn, JA Slovakia in collaboration with Citi organised the JA Young Leader student conference for the best 30 students of the JA Company Programme from the school year of 2016-2017.

During the school year JA Slovakia identifies student ambassadors of the programme, who the following year will become mentors in the Company Programme classes. The best 30 mentors are invited to a 4-day student conference where the best JA Young leader is awarded.

This year, the topic of the conference was "Successful Journey from Graduates to the Employers". During the event several workshops were organised on soft skills development, decision-making, crisis management, business basics, HR and information management led by three professional Citi volunteers.

 

 

 

Katarina Kozelnicka (Secondary Vocational School, Levice, Slovakia) shares her experience.

"When I found out that I was selected to be a JA Young Leader, I felt very pleased. All the concerns I had about how I can manage the tasks, have dissipated with the time and my expectations have been fulfilled. 

The JA Young Leader event gave me a great space for my personal growth. I have improved my ability to work and communicate within the team in order to find the best solution.

We have also managed to solve the challenge supported by Citi consultants/volunteers who gave us their advice from practice. Feedback they gave us was an added value. And thanks to them we know what we are good in at and what we should improve. In the team, we focused on creativity, brainstorming and thinking out of box. The Crisis Management program has shown me how important it is to learn how to manage stressful situations and to take into account the views of others.

When I heard my name when announcing the results, it filled me with positive emotions. I did not believe that I could just become a JA Young Leader. This recognition gave me a great motivation to work on my skills and to go for my goal. Last but not least, I have met fantastic people that I will never forget! "

Videos: Citi partners with JA Slovakia & JA Czech

• Citi & JA Slovakia

• International Innovation Camp with Citi