A story of rags-to-riches.
My story is a rags-to-riches story. My story is the story of the American dream of self-realization that has come true.
My story is also a very unlikely story of success.
Growing up, my home country of Serbia was affected by war and completely shut down by an economic embargo. The few minutes a day there was bread on the store shelves, you had to physically battle to get it, otherwise you were left empty-handed for the day.
Our parents didn’t talk to us about building a future - planning for college, choosing a profession, making a family. They talked about making it one day a time, however they could. And the stale-mate lasted for a decade. Success, the way it is seen in this prosperous country, was not on anyone’s mind. Success for us was having food on the table and staying as sane as possible.
For many, there was no way out.
I was lucky, during that time, to acquire a craft - a craft that ended up being my ticket out. I had a talent that my parents were wise enough to recognize and nurture. That craft was volleyball. After training for many years, at eighteen years old, I received a full athletic scholarship from the University of Alabama in the city of Birmingham in the United States of America.
I left the comfort of my country, home, family and friends to start a new life in a new place. I left these things, but they never left me. During all these years in the USA, my childhood, my culture, and my family have been the biggest rocks that my whole story here rests upon. They are still the biggest source of my values and inspiration even though they were formed by hardship and difficulty.
So, because of all that I’ve experienced, my mission became to motivate, inspire and support others. If I can make it, anyone can.