“Anything you dream about, the school will make it happen.” That’s what third year student Jovana Ostojic says she loves about Thomas Jefferson School of Law – especially since her dreams have been coming true lately.
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| Jovana Ostojic being interviewed on Serbian television |
Jovana, who was born in Serbia, hopes to be a human rights attorney after graduation and recent opportunities have put her well on the way to that dream.
Ostojic was recently awarded a national scholarship from the Serbian Bar Association of America (SBAA). She is the recipient of this year's Jovan Mitrovic Memorial Scholarship awarded by the SBAA which was presented November 17 at the SBAA's annual gala. Mitrovic was a graduate of California Western School of Law in San Diego, who drowned in a tragic accident shortly after he passed the California bar exam.
It was a moving experience for Ostojic to meet Mitrovic’s family, in whose name the scholarship was established in 1997 to assist law students of Serbian descent with their legal education.
Ostojic immediately bonded with Mitrovic’s sister Vesna Jocic, as they hugged and cried together.
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Vesna Jocic and Jovana Ostojic |
“It was amazing to meet her and be so comfortable,” Ostojic said. She says Jocic told her “You’re the one we picked and we try to pick someone my brother would like.”
“I’m honored they picked me,” Ostojic said.
Ostojic also recently received more good news: She has been selected for a prestigious externship at The Hague in the Office of the Prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY). The United Nations Security Council established the ICTY with Resolution 827 in 1993. The ICTY has authority to prosecute individuals who have committed serious violations of international humanitarian law in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and Macedonia, and Ostojic believes the internship will be an invaluable experience in her plans to practice human rights as well as international criminal law.
“I’m excited to be able to go over there and help fix things in (the former)Yugoslavia,” she says. “It’s a big honor.” She plans to leave for The Hague in January, and come back for graduation in May.
“It has been incredibly rewarding to observe Jovana’s accomplishments---both at TJSL and abroad---while participating in the evolution of this passionate rising star in the field of international human rights law,” said Thomas Jefferson Professor Bill Slomanson. “As one who has been drenched in Albanian perspectives about the former Yugoslavia, I was quite fortunate to have the benefit of her Serbian perspectives on the Balkans.”
For her part, Jovana credits Professor Slomanson for helping her realize her dream.
“Professor Slomanson told me about a conference this summer in Salzburg, and it was because I attended that conference that I applied to all of the internships. Essentially, Professor Slomanson pointed me in the direction that my life is taking, and I am so grateful for that.”