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For most teens, pursuing a college education is just another stop on the road of life. For others, it becomes the destination.

But when opportunities are limited, how far are you willing to go to make your dreams come true? In countries torn apart by war, education can be as elusive as peace.

"When the war started, everything stopped," says Azra Kapetanovic, who emigrated to the U.S. from Bosnia when she was 13. A recent graduate of Michigan State University (MSU, East Lansing, MI), Azra still remembers when war erupted back home in 1992.

That year, Bosnia, located in southeastern Europe, declared its independence from the former Yugoslavia, resulting in a war that would last nearly four years and cause an estimated 100,000 to 200,000 deaths, including Azra's paternal grandmother.

Life became about trying to survive, she says. Before the war, Azra dreamt of attending the University of Sarajevo (Bosnia's capital city) and spent her days attending elementary school, as well as dance and music lessons. Once the fighting began she was forced to spend her days at home.

At home, she'd often play a wishing card game. If the cards turned out favorably, that meant Azra's wishes would be granted. What she wanted most was the safety of her father, during a war that had claimed so many of her cousins' fathers and their freedom.

Although she admits to repeatedly playing until she won, both of Azra's wishes were granted. Her father is safe, and three years after the war began she moved to the U.S. with her family.

Her arrival in the States allowed her to pursue an education once more. But one of Azra's favorite lessons has been in cultural diversity.

Azra still recalls how she was mesmerized when she first saw someone from another country. "Being in America, you can go to any restaurant and meet people from any country," she explains. "In Bosnia, we all have the same culture, the same language."

Through the years, Azra has dealt with the "what--ifs" regarding how her life could have been if there had been no war, and the memories of lost loved ones, including her grandmother.

"I won't let the past get in the way of my future," she vows. And she hasn't. Though her parents would like to move back to their house in Bosnia, Azra feels differently. "I have my life settled here," she says.

Her maternal grandmother would be proud of her success. Living in Sarajevo, she always encouraged Azra to attend university. Azra promised to receive a college education no matter what. She fulfilled that promise across the ocean, two years after her grandmother's death.

Now 24-years-old with a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering, Azra attends MSU's graduate school. She's already receiving job offers and has traveled abroad to intern for IBM.

Once her stint in the working world is done, Azra aspires to teach. She's already tried her hand at it, tutoring children in both the U.S. and Bosnia.

It was frightening for her to return to her home country, now known as the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, she says, but Azra found teaching orphaned children in Sarajevo a special experience.

"It was more than just teaching and tutoring," she says. "It was trying to make them happy and show them love."


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Genevieve M. Blaber is a staff writer for The CollegeBound Network. Learn more about finding a school that's right for you.

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