Biology teacher at the “Marko Miljanov” Elementary School in Bijelo Polje Zehra Balić She is the winner of the title of “Best Teacher in the Region”. She is also one of the most famous mountaineers in Montenegro, having participated in more than 40 foreign expeditions to conquer the world’s peaks, and on some of them she was the first woman from Montenegro.
Persistent in everything she does, she managed to pass on her love of nature and biology to her students, just as some of the professors of the Faculty of Science – Department of Biology, such as Prof. Vukić Pulević, with which she walked all over Montenegro as a student.
As a crowning achievement for her dedicated work in education, she received the award for “Best Teacher in the Region” in November. The biology professor received the award at the 9th Regional Teachers’ Conference entitled “The World of Education Erases Borders”, which gathered around a hundred educators from six countries in Bar from 8 to 11 November, and was organized by the Association of the Best Teachers and Leaders of the Region.
“This recognition is awarded based on 36 clearly defined criteria, and candidates go through a rigorous selection process, including a “silent assessment by presence” during the conference itself,” said Balić.
She said she was very proud of the award.
“It is a great honor when you find yourself on stage with the best teachers from the region, many of whom are professors at prestigious universities in the region, with whom you simultaneously establish cooperation and develop personal friendships, which is the most beautiful part of such conferences.”
She says she has always loved children and believes it is the noblest calling in the world.
“With children, there is no middle ground, they either accept you or they don’t. I was lucky enough to be accepted. There is no greater goal and joy than when you gain their trust. When you love your job, she says, then the desire to improve and keep up with the pace of technological development comes easier, which, among other things, was the topic of the conference in Bar (“Artificial Intelligence and Teaching”),” Zehra Balić told “Vijesti”, adding that for the last 15, out of a total of 20 years in education, she has worked at the “Marko Miljanov” Elementary School.
Zehra Balićphoto: Private archive
She enrolled in biology when she realized she was unable to study outside of Montenegro, because she wanted to enroll in medicine, which is why she decided to find something that was most similar.
“I never regretted it and it turned out that this was, in fact, my true calling. Those were the years after the war in the surrounding area, in 1995, when I enrolled in biology at the Faculty of Science (FSM) as a third generation student,” she said.
Already during her first lectures, especially thanks to Prof. Vukić Pulević, the most famous botanist, who taught plant systematics, she, like most students, fell in love with nature and hiking.
“We had mandatory field trips, we collected herbariums for exams, so I walked all over Montenegro. Professor Pulević often told us: “You may not remember what I taught in class, but you will remember where you were with me”. We visited everything, from Lovćen to Kotor, Ulcinj beach. There were many times when we went to his house in Pipere. Unfortunately, few professors do that with students these days,” she said.
Working and studying alongside such people made him love nature above all else and made hiking and mountaineering a lifestyle, all of which he has been practicing in extracurricular activities with children for two decades.
“From the sixth grade, when we collect herbariums, we visit nearby ecosystems and mountain ranges nearby, we go to Obrovo, Bistrica, Bjelasica and surrounding places. It is sad that a large number of Bijelo Polje residents have lived in the city for decades, and do not know what beauty there is on Obrovo, which overlooks the city. It is similar with children, 95 percent of whom have not been to that place. There are also unreal scenes of the Bistrica canyon where you can drink water as if from a fountain, marked paths to the Podvrh monastery. Such tours are a wonderful way for children to love biology. Thanks to the friendship with the most famous botanist Daniel Vincek “I took each generation on a tour of the botanical garden in Kolašin,” the professor pointed out.
She has three decades of planning behind her and has climbed most of the world’s highest peaks, and together with Ivona Jočić She was the first woman from Montenegro to climb the Indian Himalayas, in 2012. She visited the four highest Alpine peaks in four countries, of which her fondest memories are of Mont Blanc, the highest peak in the Alps and the highest peak in Western Europe.
From one of the hiking tripsphoto: Private archive
“The fast-paced and urban life is what always makes me seek peace outside the city, outside civilization. Even without going abroad, there are a large number of beautiful areas outside the coast, and the paths that are less frequently visited are the pearls and the most beautiful part of Montenegro. When foreigners come to our Prokletije, they usually say: “Well, people, what do you need the Alps for, here you have your own Alps””, she says.
If she had to single out a place that always takes her breath away, it would be Maganik and Trešteni vrh, where she once broke her leg while climbing. However, she was drawn to the walk towards the same place, whose cracks in the rocks resemble the surface of the moon.
When asked where someone who wants to hike should start, they explained that one should first start with recreational tours, visit nearby hills, famous lakes in Montenegro, and over time, when one gains fitness, one gets to know oneself better and finds out if one can set off into the mountains.
“What draws you back to mountaineering is the adventure and adrenaline that comes with the mere thought of moving through certain areas. There are also dangerous places like the “Couloir of Death” on the way to Mont Blanc, where you have to run through some sections, playing a game of chance where your life is at stake. If you knew that, you wouldn’t go, but the desire to go into the unknown drives you. When you pass through those places, you realize that there are places you wouldn’t go again. One of those is the highest peak in Europe in the Caucasus, where it’s cold and minus 30 with strong gusts of wind.”
The highest peak she climbed was the Himalayas on the Indian side, in 2012, namely the Golden Peak at 6.760 meters.
“These are indescribably beautiful landscapes. However, the greatest impression on me was left by the Land of the Rising Sun, Japan, and Fuji, where I was in 2016. The feeling when you are on top of the Land of the Rising Sun, waiting for it to rise at 4 am, those are images that are etched for a lifetime. The peak of the Andes in Peru, Machu Picchu, which is one of the seven wonders of the world for a good reason, is also a special experience. Then Damavand in Iran, which I have special memories of,” she explained.
She experienced firsthand how important good preparation is during a tour of Peru, when almost the entire team contracted altitude sickness, which occurs due to insufficient acclimatization and gradual climbing up the mountain and the body’s acclimatization to a certain altitude.
“This happened due to two delays in flights directly from Belgrade airport via Paris to Peru, namely Lima. We already had an announced and planned route there because the rule is that they can allow up to 200 people to visit the mountain per day, and we were not able to wait for this reservation. Altitude sickness is a terrible condition, when the face swells and you start to suffocate, all because we went to an altitude above 3.000 meters without preparation,” says Zehra.
Her dream is to tour the peaks of Australia, the only continent that remains unwritten in the long CV of conquered peaks in the world.
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