Today's blog is all about showing my appreciation to one of my sweetest lil sister/cousin Tifany Noeraisja Latifa Amatali.😍
Tifany Amatali is a 21 year old motivated girl from Suriname. She's currently a second year environmental sciences student at Anton de Kom University of Suriname (ADEK). Throughout high school (in Suriname: VWO) adults have always told teens to make a plan and work towards it. Now, u may think this is a story about someone who definitely did
it... Well,🤔 yes and no.
Growing up she had a very clear career goal: Medical sciences.👩⚕ She had a plan, followed all the steps and worked for it. Ideally Tiffy wanted to study medicine, but because of the “numerus fixus”, she studied physical therapy instead. Still the plan was ongoing, She was in the medical field of work. However, during this year Tifany felt a bit unmotivated and even unhappy at times. But how could that be? she was so close to her goal, right?
In 2019 Tifany volunteered to help out with cleaning up Leonsberg on "World Clean Up Day". This event was organized by Green Heritage Fund Suriname. She spoke with environmental scientists (who also studied at ADEK) about their work. She was fascinated! Tiffy always loved nature but never thought of it as a career choice. That's because she had a career tunnel vision, she was so focused on 1 path! After doing more research about environmental sciences Tifany knew that she wanted to switch majors.
(Micro-Biology Practicum)
Now comes the hard part, going from medical 💉to environmental sciences.🌱 At some point Tifany realized that she wasn't unsure about switching, She was scared! Scared that she would be bad at it or that she would not like it as much, scared that she would regret it, and worst of all scared to change the plan she always followed. But she had thought long and hard. Finally, she took a leap of faith.
(Birdwatching, embracing nature and enjoying herself as a volunteer.)
Today she can proudly say, it was the best decision she has ever made! As I mentioned earlier she is in her second year and learning more every single day. Besides school she also volunteers whenever she can. Tifany has volunteered at Green heritage fund Suriname and Education through art. Recently she also started volunteering at “Het Nationaal Herbarium Suriname”. Volunteer work also plays a big role in keeping her motivated. her love and appreciation for the environmental sciences field keeps growing. And she's always open to new challenges.
(She learned how to work with a telescope to watch birds from a distance.)
I am ending with this blog with a message from her to all fellow students:
"Sometimes it's okay to stray away from the original plan and adjust it! You know what is best for you."
I'm very grateful to be #alive and have her in my life.❤️
💕Thank you for reading my blog post and I hope you enjoyed it.