ALSA UK’s Empowerment Summit: Learning How to Write Your Own Path

Asije

This year's summit was a pleasure to be a part of. There's something about an ALSA UK event that’s electric, that lifts my energy, and I love being a part of them. The summit brought together people from different paths of life in one room, and sharing our experiences with each other was the highlight of the day. 

The day started with three amazing keynote speakers from different careers, showcasing that careers don’t need to be linear to be successful.

We opened the summit with Dr Enkeleda Kadiu, a dentist, who took us on a journey through her career. She spoke about how she didn’t get the results she wanted in her A-levels, got rejected from all four of her university choices and how it took her a while to get into dentistry. There’s always a turning point in a person's life, where something happens that opens doors for them, and Enkeleda found her way into dentistry despite her setbacks. 

For Enkeleda, she never felt as though she was behind, despite her mother's concerns about the length of her course; Enkeleda had a ‘golden nugget’ that was pulling her towards her destination. She emphasised that there is never a right or wrong time to start; it’s all about finding the time that is right for you. Regardless of the length it took her to become a dentist, Enkeleda now owns her own dental practice, and we had the pleasure of hearing her speak.

Drenny Bajri opened the second speech for us, sharing her career journey, one that doesn’t always get the spotlight. She didn’t finish her university degree, but that did not stop her from building a successful career. She now works as an events marketing manager in the AI industry.

Drenny shared many words of wisdom that really stuck with me, particularly her perspective on rejection. She emphasised that rejection is a natural part of life, and while it’s important to allow yourself to feel the sadness and your emotions, you shouldn’t let them consume you. She gives herself 24 hours to feel everything and let it out, but reminds herself that the next day is a new day. Over time, she’s learned to view rejection as redirection, a mindset that has reshaped how I now approach rejection. Her advice on being audacious also left me feeling motivated. She explained that many of the most successful people she knows are audacious and, in some ways, a little delusional. As she put it, ‘if someone else has done it, why can’t I?’

Johnathan Ellis, a campaigner, closed out our first session with an endless list of wisdom. Selling yourself is a hard skill to master, and Johnathan’s advice on keeping your passion and allowing your personality to come through when you speak puts another perspective on that and makes it a bit easier. Johnathan also shared invaluable insights on leadership. Drawing on his extensive experience, he left me with one key takeaway: good leadership isn’t always about being at the forefront; sometimes, it’s about taking a step back and empowering others. 

Following session one, we had the careers & networking fair, where everyone got to walk around and talk to each other whilst gaining invaluable information. We had stalls covering various careers, including law, engineering, humanities & creative arts, tech & computer science, finance, and of course, our university team.

It was a pleasure running the humanities & creative arts stall along with Loresa. We had people who were genuinely curious about these subjects and wanted to explore a creative path, whether through university, other courses, or events held to host like-minded individuals. It was lovely speaking to a wide range of people during session two and sharing my own experiences from my studies in the discipline.

During the networking and careers fair, we also had two amazing workshops running. Arisa led a leadership workshop where she discussed what working as a doctor can teach you about leadership. Arisa pulled from her real-life experiences and turned them into lessons for everyone in attendance. Drenny also ran a workshop on landing your next role, learning how to approach the job search with confidence, finding the right opportunities and creating a strong application.

It was a day full of knowledge and allowed me to widen my understanding of different career paths. I came away with a lot of important advice from our summit, and I’m glad I attended.

A big thank you to everyone who made this day possible!