In our selection training, when we introduce new committee members to our grading criteria, we often tell them: “just because candidates are different from what you were like at age 16 doesn’t mean they aren’t good candidates!”

At age 16, I had no idea what I wanted to be. If someone asked me what I wanted to do in life, I usually said “talk”. If they really pushed, I’d say I wanted to be a lawyer (a career for people who talk). But I had no more detailed plan. This is why I found my conversation with Aleksandar so refreshing – because he (in accordance with our selection criteria!) could not be more different from me at his age.

Aleksandar knows that he wants to be a doctor. He’s known it for years. And he not only knows, but is actively working towards that goal. The interest was sparked by watching movies about doctors, then grew into a membership in the Red Cross and, later, admission into the medical high school. As part of the curriculum, Aleksandar spends time at the surgical department and helps medical personnel. He bandages wounds and helps with treatment. He attended a coronary artery bypass surgery. 

Aleksandar recounts these experiences with utmost nonchalance – not because he doesn’t care, but because this isn’t news. It’s news to me, sure, but Aleksandar has known he’s wanted to be a doctor for a good while. So he’s made a plan. That plan first took him to medical high school and is now taking him to Norway, where his subjects will be (of course) biology, chemistry and psychology. After that, the plan has him going to university to study medicine, then going to specialization, then coming back to Shtip to be a surgeon – because he knows surgeons are needed.

I don’t want to leave you with an impression that Aleksandar isn’t flexible. On the contrary, he has a ton of interests – from listening to French canzones, to going to the gym, to marketing. He grew up in Shtip (“in the same apartment, on a street next to the park – a small place”), a child of parents working in the textile industry. He’s participated in Erasmus projects, debates, Red Cross actions… The kid is flexible with his friends, at hangouts, at coffee chats. Just not with his plans. Like he said: “if you’re flexible with your plans, you don’t know what you want.” And Aleksandar Angelovski knows what he wants – he just has to make it happen. 

Bobo Stankovikj,
July 2024