1) Can you share with us what you have learned from your life experience so far, and what you consider very important for a peaceful, happy and successful life?
For me, the biggest lesson has been that hard work does pay off, eventually. I have had to work really hard for everything I have achieved thus far in my life, nothing has really come easily for me. I am not as naturally smart as a lot of my peers, so I have always had to work extra hard in school to get good grades. And even after working hard, I still didn’t achieve the grades I had hoped to. But I kept working at it and pushing myself even harder to get where I wanted to be. I was also a student-athlete in college, I was a rower, and as with academics, I was not as naturally athletic as a lot of my friends and teammates. So, again, I just put it on myself to work harder and train more than my teammates to catch up and make up the gap. Even so, I had never felt like I truly excelled at anything in life, until I was awarded the prestigious Fulbright Award to move to Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina to conduct research in conflict resolution and legally mediated peace agreements. That experience was so great because I not only felt like I succeeded for the first time in my life, but I was able to meet so many amazing people and travel and do all the things I dreamed about doing. That experience has opened so many doors for me, I am now in graduate school learning how to become an international lawyer and advocate and am using the research I conducted in Bosnia to get a Master of Arts in Russian and Eastern European Area Studies. In my Master’s classes at least, I feel like I am finally succeeding in school for the first time in my life, largely because I have found a subject and a program that fits my needs well.
2) What is your inspirational message for all of us?
So I guess the moral of the story is: keep working. Always keep working, if you fail, try again. If you are continually failing over and over, accept the failure and move on or make a change in your life. Never be satisfied with the status quo. We can always push ourselves to be better, to do better. If you feel like you aren’t living up to your potential, don’t give up, keep pushing yourself and giving it your best effort, because one day you will wake up and find out that all that hard work has paid off and that you feel like you are where you belong. Good things come for those who wait, we just have to be patient and persistent.
3) The Bellspiration Club is ending the fourth month of its work. What do you think of this club after a month of promotion? What do you think about Bellspiration in general and its goal of promoting the work and deeds of young people?
I am glad I participated because a lot of these questions caused me to reflect on who I am and how I got to where I am today. I am glad I was able to take time out of my busy schedule for this because Belma is doing important work. I am glad to see her pulling together so many people from all over the world to try to make it a better place.
Previous parts of Emma’s interview:
Interview PART 1/4: https://bellspiration.blogspot.com/2021/05/bellspiration-club-emma-strenski-usa-i.html
Interview PART 2/4: https://bellspiration.blogspot.com/2021/05/bellspiration-club-emma-strenski-usa-i_15.html
Interview PART 3/4: https://bellspiration.blogspot.com/2021/05/bellspiration-club-emma-strenski-usa.html
CONTACT EMMA:
IG: https://www.instagram.com/estrensk/ FB: https://www.facebook.com/emma.strenski LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emma-delaney-strenski-797946148/
BELLSPIRATION:
Website: https://bellspiration.blogspot.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bellspiration/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bellspiration
Email: bellspiration2k16@gmail.com
