Antonia Džido

Dear Antonia, please introduce yourself to us in a few sentences.

My name is Antonia Džido, I am 22 years old and I am a first year student of International Business at the Faculty of Economics in Rijeka. I would associate my personality type with the protagonist. I am a very energetic and curious person. I love sports, music, theater, painting, travel, learning and challenges. It gives me pleasure to help others and discover discovering my new possibilities.

You are a very active athlete. In which sports do you all participate?

I am currently training martial arts and am an active member of the Kickboxing Club. However, in the field of martial arts, I practiced MMA, Muay Thai, boxing and grappling.

I always tell everyone that my main sport is basketball. The reason is that I have been in basketball for most years and I have the most successful results in this sport, both internationally and nationally. I am also a member of the Croatian Basketball Association and I participate in competitions as an assistant referee. However, I have medals from different sports such as athletics where I have medals in 400 meters running, high jump and relay, cross running, futsal, skiing, table tennis. At the age of 17, I started to train swimming, became a swimming coach and supplemented my collection of medals with the one from swimming.

"Prizes are a confirmation of success, and my greatest success is finishing a competition or a race and always giving my best. In sports, awards require a lot of sacrifice andhard work, and this is true in everyday life.”

You have won numerous recognitions and awards. Which one are you especially proud of and why?

Truth! I have a lot of recognitions and awards, but I think there are people who own them even more than I do and who are very talented. It is true that awards are a way of evaluating success, and my greatest success is to finish a competition or race to the very end and always give my best. Awards require a lot of sacrifice and hard work and this is true in sports, but in everyday life also. The pleasure a person carries within himself or herself when they climb the podium and lower their head to receive a medal around their neck creates a sense of pride and personal satisfaction. I trained team sports and individual sports and learned that as a participant in a team I respect, cooperate and act, while in individual work I achieve. I would say that my biggest reward is respecting the opponent, supporting myself when I have to run the last 100 meters and my legs no longer listen, that assisted ball that I add to give my teammate a victory basket and wonderful acquaintances of extremely talented and motivated people.

Who is your biggest role model?

My role models are people who work hard, who are persistent and always wear a sincere smile on their face. I met various athletes, artists and intellectuals, each of whom carries within them a diversity that is an example to me. However, my mother who enabled me to engage in various activities and my family who support me are definitely my greatest role models. 

You are part of the EFRI Sports Association. Can you tell us more about your role in the Association and who can get involved?

The EFRI Sport Association operates within the Faculty of Economics and business in Rijeka. Members can be all students and employees of EFRI, and I hereby invite every recreational or professional athlete to join the association and follow EFRI Sport on Facebook. Through the Facebook page it is possible to apply for university sports competitions in various sports. In addition, it is possible to see information related to all activities of the association, including paintball, hiking and the upcoming EFRIJADA, which we are all looking forward to.

I would also recommend EFRI Sport to anyone who has an idea to create a sports project independently or in collaboration with members of the association. The mission of EFRI Sport is to promote active participation in sports and sports recreation and to promote a healthy lifestyle.

In addition to the EFRI Sport association, I am a member of the Primorje-Gorski Kotar County Youth Council and a volunteer in the DIRA association. I recommend everyone, if they are not already, to be active, to join any association, and to be participants in social change and community development.

How do you balance your commitments?

Organization is my passion and I always aim to manage time as efficiently and effectively as possible. Therefore, Google Calendar is a "must have" application. I always write down all my obligations and their time, otherwise I would forget everything. 

You also recently enrolled in music school. Can you tell us more about how you decided on your singing and piano lessons?

I enrolled in music school in October 2019 and singing lessons in January 2021. Singing was my New Year’s decision. Music fills me immensely. I could say that sport is my outlet, and piano and singing lessons are a place of relaxation. However, I have to admit that it is not easy and I often sweat at the piano while learning a new and more complex composition, not to mention when my voice wanders off without my permission while singing. Music is extremely important for brain development and mood. It activates not only the auditory system, but also activates areas of the brain related to movement, language, attention, memory and emotions. It also stimulates the secretion of dopamine that gives us a good mood. It is all a matter of practice and technique that anyone can learn, and in addition your brain will be grateful to you.

"I recommend the Erasmus study exchange to everyone! Definitely a wonderful experience from which I primarily learned to cope with unfamiliar situations and make contacts despite language and cultural barriers”

You plan to go on an Erasmus study exchange next year. Given that you have already been on an exchange in France, what do you think are the biggest benefits of participating in this program?

I recommend the Erasmus study exchange to everyone! Definitely a wonderful experience from which I primarily learned to cope with unfamiliar situations and make contacts despite language and cultural barriers. During the exchange, I really liked going to lectures at the faculty and listening to the perspectives of professors at a foreign institution. I traveled a lot, had fun and met a lot of people I am still in contact with. 

What was your biggest challenge at Erasmus and how did you solve it?

My first big challenge was finding accommodation. Doc. dr. sc. Marko Tomljanović and Professor Srdjan Redžepagić helped me a lot.

The second biggest challenge for me was to pass all the compulsory subjects that were not recognized to me. The solution to this problem was all-day learning in the student library.

Recently you participated in the first Business Opportunities Day. What are your impressions? Are you satisfied with the cooperation that resulted after the event?

Business Opportunities Day was an extremely useful and interesting event. I believe that a successful interview with an employer requires good preparation and experience with job interviews. Speed ​​dating interviews gave everyone the experience of talking to a potential employer. Therefore, when I enter the job market I will know what to expect at job interviews. Personally, I am very pleased with the collaboration I achieved after the event. A colleague and I were selected for a 30-day internship at AESTUS d.o.o. The job involves applying for projects for European funds. I am very motivated and I will do my best to complete the task as well as possible and try to learn as much as possible from the extremely educated and innovative people I work with.

What are your plans for the next 2-3 years?

I have many plans and I am still in the phase of finding exactly what I want to do in life. I would say that I have a disadvantage which is also an advantage, and that is that I am interested in many things and I can find an element in everything that interests me. Next year I will be in my final year of graduate studies. Therefore, my first plan is to go on an Erasmus student exchange in the summer semester. Now I have enrolled in a course on the basics of SQL and by the end of the year, I plan to enroll in another course related to data visualization. In addition, I plan to enroll in archery in September. My plans after graduation are still in the thought phase and I would not like to reveal them until they are final. However, I definitely plan to continue with my education and training.

Advice for colleagues?

Fear is an illusion. Be brave and live for love!

May, 2021