Eesti
- Who is the girl behind Meet Me Mondays?
I’m Lisanna, a 22-year old girl from Tallinn, Estonia. I love sports, enjoy all kinds of challenges and tend to eat a lot of chocolate and other goodies. I study Business Administration and finance at EBS, go to work, play tennis as a hobby and do all kinds of other things people at my age do.
- Three facts about you that people won’t be able to guess when they first meet you.
- I’m a chocoholic (no joke, I hide chocolate from myself)
- In total, I’ve lived in 4 different countries
- I’ve been playing tennis for over 17 years
- You have been to Erasmus exchange twice. What were the main things you learned during your time abroad?
Oh, I learned plenty of new things while being on the exchange. Maybe the most important ones are the following:
– Never underestimate the phrase ‘culture shock’ – you might think you’ve travelled a lot and seen everything but the truth is you probably haven’t. There is always this little something that amazes you about how things are organized in other societies.
– You meet so many new people but make sure to have a few you can always visit, have deep conversations with and count on when things get out of hand.
– Erasmus is cool, but besides partying don’t forget to focus on your studies as well. You might end up taking a class in which the lecturer is straight from Oxford.
– Use this time to extend your childhood – you really have only one responsibility – don’t fail your classes. Try to travel a lot and discover new places.
– And of course, I learned how to cook when there’s no mom around.
- Lisanna, you got nominated and won the category of “Brain of the year” at the Haba Gala. What is your daily dose of motivation that got you there?
Like I said during the gala, I’ve never been the smartest but I enjoy working hard to achieve my goals. I think my motivation comes from the inside. I hate being bad at something, so if I want to be successful, I need to put in some real effort. Hence, no secret, just working hard.
- You are now graduating your bachelor’s. What are your plans for the upcoming year?
To be honest, I’ve always planned my future, I thought I had it all figured out but currently there is no plan I’m following. I have an awesome job at EY where I really feel like I’m progressing on daily basis, I have the coolest hobby of being able to teach people some tennis in my spare time, I have so many ambitious people around me I want to hang out with, so I guess there is no such thing as a plan for the upcoming year. I rather think that I will just be doing everything that I think will help me develop and have fun.
- What is the most important thing that working in Student Council has taught you?
It has taught me that networking is the key in today’s world. There are so many cool events we have organized and eventually it comes down to the awesome people who make those events a success. Therefore, it has given me lots of skills on how to approach others and how to make people my friends. Going to the Student Council, helping to organize events and having some cool bunch of people around me has been so much fun.
- Sports seem to be big part of your everyday life, tell us more about your combination of a hobby and work in tennis.
Well, it all started when I was 5 years old and my parents took me to a tennis lesson. After that I dedicated myself completely to tennis so I played before school, after school, during the weekends, on holidays and so on. I think I was a pretty decent player but I was really hard on myself and always thought that winning is the most important thing but I think I’ve grown out of it now. I finished playing on the “professional” level when I was 18 and after that I started teaching other younger players alongside my childhood coaches. Then started the most enjoyable part – the coach life. I can now proudly call coaching my hobby, I train people during the weekends just because I think my clients are the coolest and reflect so much energy back to me. I occasionally co-organize tennis camps and tournaments and I feel like introducing me to tennis 17 years ago was the best decision my parents ever made.
- If you could have any kind of superpower, what would it be?
Being able to freeze the time so I could do way more than I currently have time for. I also wouldn’t say no to a skill which would allow me to understand and memorize everything I read or see in a few seconds. I always wish to know more than I do.
- Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
Hopefully working in an environment that I love, enjoying holidays somewhere warm, having a house with a cat and a loving family around me. I, for sure, have some more specific goals as well but I don’t think they have any value here.
- Your favorite quote.
“Consistency is what transforms average into excellence.”
Edited by Kärt Mättikas
