A year that changes you — knowledge that must return home!
The easiest thing was to stay in America.
The most responsible choice was to return home.
The year I spent in the United States as a Humphrey Hubert H. Fellow was one of the most inspiring in my life. Not only because of the knowledge I gained, but because of the clarity I developed about the role of science, women’s leadership, and public service. In an environment where knowledge is valued, where institutions invest in prevention, in systems, and in people, you realize that science is not just an academic discipline. It is a driver of policy. It is the foundation of strong healthcare systems. It is trust.
But the most important lesson I learned there was simple: knowledge has the greatest value when it returns to where you come from.
To be a woman from a small European country in a global academic and professional environment means carrying your own reality with you. It means seeing Macedonia from a distance, but with greater clarity. It means understanding how much potential exists in small systems when knowledge, integrity, and vision come together.
What I learned about prevention, leadership, data management, and building trust in institutions, I do not see as a personal success. I see it as a responsibility. A responsibility to implement it back home, in a system that needs knowledge, stability, and a long-term vision
Returning to a small country with big challenges is not always the easiest choice. But that is exactly where knowledge has the greatest value. That is where it can be directly transformed into policy, into programs, into a better system. I believe this message is also important for our diaspora—for all those who study, work, and create outside of Macedonia. Not everyone has to physically return in order to contribute. But everyone can bring back a part of their knowledge, experience, and connections. Macedonia does not ask for everyone to return. But it does need knowledge not to remain abroad forever.
The greatest capital of a small country is not its size. It is its intellectual potential—the people who study and work around the world. To be a woman in science today means carrying knowledge, but also responsibility. It means building a career, but also opening doors for those who come after us. It means showing that success is not only personal, but also collective.
My year in the U.S. was a year of learning, growth, and vision. But its true value began the moment I returned home. Because knowledge that remains only a personal success is an achievement. But knowledge that returns and is shared becomes change.
Assistant Professor, Ph.D. Sanja Sazdovska
Humphrey Hubert Alumni 2024/25
State Advisor at the Ministry of Health