Mladen Dudek of Ljubljana

Proposer: Karin Elena Sánchez

After successfully finishing vocational school (car mechanic), he had to chart his own path to higher education and new vocational qualifications (professional driver and fork lift driver). He was assisted in this mainly by his own desire for knowledge and independence in learning, and he found motivation in the realisation that even the richest vocational experience would not help him towards a better job without adequate formal education. So at the age of 38 he sat at a school desk once again and in two years passed the vocational matura (baccalaureate) exam with distinction, thereby earning himself the title of transportation engineer. Despite his modest income and employment for a certain time, he bought the computer equipment that was essential for his education, and alongside his work (he was still employed as a professional driver) he enrolled at the Faculty of Maritime Navigation and Transport in Portorož, in the transport technology course. Here, too, his perseverance and focus on the objective soon paid off; he advanced in the regular way from year to yea, and after three years acquired his fifth professional title - bachelor engineer of transport technology.

Mladen's learning path did not end, however, when he finished his course. In recent years he has enhanced his knowledge by learning English and computing, and he participated in a one-year intensive, internationally recognised and certified education course in communication and personal growth - Commercial Practitioner of Neurolinguistic Programming - and the workshop "Power of Communication - Selection of Personal Virtues". His learning path therefore comprises not just formal education, which through the qualifications he has gained has enabled him to seek appropriate employment, but also non-formal education, the goal that offers him what he desires most - personal development. Judging from the words of the proposer, his learning path does not end here: Mladen is a student who is still learning out of a genuine human desire to understand new things and to overcome one's own obstacles. When he grasps something, he realises that he is then missing something else. And he wants even more... He deals with barriers boldly and systematically, smiling and cheerful.  He is also thankful that after so many years he still has the possibility to learn. And that it works for him. That he can help others. He is proud of himself and his achievements, and he will also tell you this confidently.

Yet Mladen Dudek has still not had the last word - at the faculty he gained a range of additional theoretical knowledge, which owing to his wealth of practical experience he has grasped deeply. The fact is, Mladen knew why he was studying: not just to gain a degree, but also to learn something that he could use in practice. He went to the faculty primarily for knowledge. Currently the most important thing for him is to change his job, so he can finally demonstrate what he knows. It is for that reason that he studied. Without doubt he will succeed.