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While the majority of us completely abandon the notion of “future leader” for the summer, Diell Grazhdani spent his summer working for the government of Kosova. Diell, a junior and a BUS major, came for the interview precisely on time and smiling. This slender guy in jeans and a casual black sweater spent about five weeks regularly gathering around one table with various ministers and ambassadors. V: What exactly were your duties? D: I worked in the office of Prime Minister in the government of Kosovo. We were coordinating every donor activity, and we had a lot of work because donations are basically what we rely on right now. V: What did you expect from the work and what did it turn out to be like? D: I was an intern and it was a very different experience from what I expected it to be. At first I thought I was just going to stay at my computer all day long and do nothing, but I participated in every single activity that the Ministry of Economy and Finance had. The month and one week I spent there was a very crucial period because an important donor conference in Brussels was going to take place on the 11th of July. Besides, we wanted to have a cocktail party the night before the conference and only two of us, my colleague and I, were organizing it. We invited 600 people, and all of them were ambassadors, key people in the EU, NATO… The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was established two-three months ago and they didn’t have many contacts yet, so the last week we were on the phone almost until 2 am. V: How were you treated there? D: In a place like a newly established government they look for people who work hard. Even though I was very young compared to the others, they encouraged me to give my opinion.
On my second day, after a meeting, the minister of Economy and Finance was like “So what do you think?” Sometimes they needed someone from the outside to give opinion on key political issues. V: Did you have any Political Science background? D: People in the Balkans are all involved in Politics. I never studied politics, but, I think, even if you are only reading newspapers, you learn. V: Was anything you carried out from AUBG helpful? D: Some experience in writing, communicating with people, talking in front of public. I think that what people should take from AUBG, because the theory you learn is not always applicable. Even if I did an internship in business, I would not expect to see in practice everything we study, it is just background. If you study finance and accounting, there are certain rules, but most theories are just theories.
V: Were you enthusiastic about working for the government of your homeland? D: At the beginning—I can say it on record—I just wanted it for CV, but later I thought it was great and I could do it again with same people. V: How did you get this job? D: I actually didn’t want to work; I wanted to spend my summer like the last one – just chilling. But some people, one of them a former AUBG student, insisted I should do an internship. I wanted to learn how politics actually works. Kosovo is a small place and people know each other. So my father just asked the minister to say whenever there is an opening. I can’t say how easy it is in other countries because I didn’t live there, but I believe you just have to be patient. You also shouldn’t be ashamed of using connections. V: Are connections vitally important to find an internship? D: It is possible to find something without any connections if the person is really willing to work. The key issue is where they are going to put you. You don’t want to stand around all day and it also matters if there is someone to take care of you, to train.
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