MILICA GAVRILOVIC
If you’re asking me, the greatest reward for a teacher is the fact that, while teaching, we are learning, too. It was this feedback, along with having inspiring professors, that made me want to be a teacher myself.
I graduated from the English language and literature department at the Faculty of Philology in Belgrade, but I started teaching much earlier, while I was still a student, by taking part in volunteering programmes, workshops and through tutoring. I have never been bored ever since! After earning my master’s degree, I was lucky enough to meet some extraordinary people who helped me turn my enthusiasm for languages into a beautiful and rewarding profession.
My colleague Ivana Marinkovic, a knowledge repository and the master of tricks for easier learning, introduced me to the magical world of Serbian as a foreign language, an experience that resembles travelling, as Ivana puts it. That is how my own mother tongue enabled me to meet new cultures and their customs, broadening my linguistic knowledge every day.
Finally, it is only fair to mention my students, too, as they are a great encouragement for me to be a better professional who strives to make the best out of every situation and, with the help of different available means, turn the process of learning into something fun, engaging and dynamic, making the classroom a place to which they gladly return.