My name is Una Vaskovic; I am a Bosnian-Serbian citizen and I originally left my hometown of Banja Luka to study at the Faculty of Political Sciences in Belgrade, Serbia. Although I have enjoyed my time in Belgrade, it has always been my dream to study in a foreign city. I am so excited to be transferring to John Cabot University in the Fall of 2018 to complete my degree in International Affairs.
Coming from a small city like Banja Luka, I have always dreamed of moving somewhere completely new to finish my studies. However, when I graduated from high school it was not possible at that time to go somewhere too far away from home. I chose to go to Belgrade, where I began my pursuit of higher education, still yearning for a bigger city where I could experience a completely new culture and immerse myself in that lifestyle. This is where John Cabot came into play. After inquiring for information from several universities, a JCU admissions counselor, Stefania Corrado, reached out to me in mid-January and I ended up traveling to Rome in February to meet with her and visit the university.
I have always wanted to study abroad, but every other option I looked into would not allow me to transfer the credits I had already earned, meaning I would have had to start my degree from the very beginning. I was so happy when I found out that John Cabot would accept many of the credits from my current university, allowing me to successfully and seamlessly transfer. I had a great impression of JCU starting from my first meeting with Stefania: she was extremely pleasant and helpful.
What does becoming a part of John Cabot University mean to me? Joining a close-knit community like JCU's and graduating from such an amazing university is something that I’ve always dreamed of. Knowing that I will be studying in a foreign country, while attending a university that follows the American educational system, is more than I could have asked for! I know that graduating from an esteemed university will offer me great career prospects in the future. Above all else, attending John Cabot will broaden my horizons. I will meet people of all different backgrounds and cultures that I would not have had the possibility of meeting if I had stayed in Belgrade. I believe that interacting with people from all over the world is an important aspect of life for anyone, but especially for someone studying International Affairs.
All in all, I am very excited to join JCU, study in a different educational system, and embrace the Roman lifestyle. I look forward to meeting all my new classmates and professors in August. It seems that all roads do, in fact, lead to Rome... even if that's not the route you had planned on taking.
Una Vaskovic
Class of 2020
International Affairs major
Hometown: Banja Luka (Republika Srpska), Bosnia and Herzegovina