Key contributors to Success
One key contributor to my success is my ability to persevere and a high pain tolerance. We grow and become stronger through struggle and challenge, but only if we don’t let them break us. Sometimes it’s necessary to hold on and keep going in hard times in order to enjoy the good times ahead.

Furthermore, the people around me, especially every wonderful and inspiring person in my network, were invaluable on my journey. Without them, I would not be in this education, this job or this country, and I am so unbelievably grateful to every single one of them.

I also struggled with homesickness and feeling isolated in my first years in Denmark. Building a network and making friends here through university, my job, my choir and countless events helped me feel more settled and connected here.

Aspirations
My motivation to come to Denmark and enrol in this education was to shape the sustainable transformation of the chemical industry. While this vision has changed and developed over the years, being an active part of the sustainable change in industry remains my most important professional goal. In ten years, I see myself as a team lead, working both with engineering tasks and with leading and management. I’d also like to be part of and organize more interdisciplinary initiatives within engineering and sustainable development, as they are crucial to achieve holistic sustainable development.

Inspiration
I genuinely enjoy both my education and my job, which is an incredible privilege that motivates me every day. Seeing the impact my company, my university and the people around me have on big and small developments motivates me to shape my own positive impact, both professionally and personally.

Getting someone to smile at a comment or laugh at a joke has enough impact on some days. Although it might seem small, connecting to others in such a way brightens both their and my day, and ideally makes both of us feel seen and accepted. It will also aid in any future interaction, since we remember each other positively. Other days I am more focused on long-term goals such as becoming an engineer and developing my career to reach my most important professional goal.

Advice
The advice that is the most meaningful to me is not from anyone specific, but from the general pool of human wisdom:
“Progress over perfection. It’s better to take small steps towards your goals than to wait for the perfect time and place to start”. Non-linear progress is the most natural progress, and it will still get you there if you keep at it.
Since I at the beginning of my career, I remind myself that
Working on myself and working on external achievements is not the same thing, and some inner focus is necessary to sustain outwards performance. Sometimes that can just be taking care of myself well enough to keep going in a healthy and sustainable manner.

It is not sustainable to base one’s self-worth on only measurable performance and external validation; it needs to come from oneself (though that is, of course, much easier said than done).