Educate, Volunteer, Empower

Qendresa Hoti, Assistant Lecturer, Laboratory Technician and current PhD candidate in Medical Biochemistry 

Born and raised in Libya, Qendresa lived with her family away from their native Kosovo for almost 30 years, where her father was project manager at a large construction company. 

Always missing home and making plans to come back, the family returned to Kosovo eight years ago. At 29 years old, Qendresa is a PhD candidate for Medical Biochemistry at Near East University in Cyprus. Her proud date of completion is only weeks away.

“I am glad to be back home, living with my family in Kosovo. I definitely see myself remaining here and contributing to academia, as well as clinical work” says Qendresa. 

Lecturing at a private university in Kosovo, she genuinely enjoys guiding young students in the subject of biochemistry and says she works hard in improving their academic performance. 

Recognizing that there is a lot of room for research and analysis in Kosovo’s medical field, this PhD candidate believes she has her work cut out. 

“If I’ve learned anything from my education abroad, it is that listening to your ambitions is how you get serious about setting your goals, and once you set those goals – you just plunge into doing them,” she explains. 

Living and studying abroad, Qendresa has a good understanding of what it’s like to work among diverse communities. It was during her bachelor studies that the war in Libya broke out in 2011. This is where she learned first-hand about one of the noblest qualities – volunteerism. 

“I didn’t just want to sit around and do nothing, so I decided to volunteer together with my sister at the local hospital in Hun, where we lived,” she says. “We were young, and those moments spent at the hospital laboratory in the middle of the crisis, have shaped me into a stronger and more compassionate person.” 

With the onset of the pandemic in 2020, Qendresa tapped into her volunteerism skills once again. She offered to volunteer at the COVID laboratory of the Kosovo National Institute of Public Health, and while she still awaits an answer from them, Qendresa has helped establish a private clinic for COVID-19 testing where she also works. 

“I feel like the more skills and experience you accrue, the more you want to share some of that good fortune with others,” she explains. Hence, apart from teaching biochemistry, Qendresa’s goal is also to help her students understand why volunteering is a worthwhile cause, and how it benefits communities.

Learning to be ambitious at a young age, Qendresa appears to be a leader in the making herself. She explains that women just need to look around and see the countless examples of successful women around us, which clearly inspire her.

“There are so many wonderful examples of women who have overcome so much in life and are successful at what they do. My own ambitions are to advance my professional and personal skills to a maximum, so that I can be a valuable contributing force in my community,” says Qendresa.