Immigrant New Yorker Story

Story from The New York Daily News. Lana (whom the story is about) is my sisters good friend Daves girlfriend. I have met Lana on a couple of occasions, and didn't know much about her, let alone her story. Hearing this story makes me want to ask her a million questions.

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'Haven't you had enough of politics?' by Jeff Tamarkin
When Lana Obradovic announced that she wanted to study politics in college, her mother was more than a little shocked. "Haven't you had enough of politics?" she asked her daughter.

It was a valid question. Obradovic, her younger sister and their mother had narrowly escaped Bosnia in the early 1990s during the turbulent period when ethnic cleansing was rampant in the former Yugoslavia.

Several of their relatives, along with tens of thousands of others, were killed and many more displaced during the civil wars that tore apart the Balkan region.

Today, Obradovic's mother better understands her daughter's decision - she recently turned 30 but she's adjunct professor in political science at three city institutions of higher learning: Hunter College, St. John's University and Queens College.

"I wanted to understand what happened to me," says Obradovic when asked why she pursued the study of politics. "How can a country or a family or an individual go from having a happy life to overnight having everything taken away?"

Obradovic, speaking at the CUNY Graduate Center, not far from her midtown apartment, was living what she describes as a happy childhood in the city of Mostar when the violence turned her life upside down.

Her father, who passed away from cancer during that same period, was a filmmaker and theater director, and her mother an art critic.

"They were intellectuals who dragged me from one play to another, and from one exhibit to another," says Obradovic. "I guess that background did not allow me to see what was coming because my parents were oblivious to it."

Then, she continues, "On April 6, 1992, the bombing of my hometown started. The first night we found ourselves in the basement of our condominium. We knew the situation was tense but nobody knew it was going to go that far. From then on it was clear there was no going back."

The following June, using faked papers, the two girls and their mother managed to cross the border into Croatia. It was a risky move. "If [caught] they'd send us back and we'd be in so much more trouble. It's not just being deported, it's being deported to hell," says Obradovic.

After a few weeks, mother and daughters hooked up with an organization that helped them get to Italy. They spent 16 months there - Obradovic, who spoke no Italian, attended high school in the foreign country. Their next stop was Lincoln, Neb., where Obradovic had cousins.

Arriving in late 1994, she finished high school there. Then, on a scholar-ship, Obradovic attended the University of Nebraska. That's when she broke the news that she wanted to pursue an education in politics.

"The day after we left Mostar, our house was taken away, my dad's books were thrown out in the garbage.

I just wanted to understand why, at the end of the 20th century, something like that was happening."

After graduating college, Obradovic, who speaks with almost no trace of a European accent today, came to New York to study for her master's degree at St. John's. "I got a 4.0 [grade point average]. I really enjoyed the program and worked my butt off," she says.

O bradovic was offered a job at the school, as the assistant director of a program that promotes higher education in immigrant, minority and low-income communities. She kept that job for three years. Then one day she ran into one of her professors, the chairman of the school's Government and Politics department.

"She said, 'I need somebody to teach the class. You graduated with honors, could you do that?'" Still in her 20s and a resident of the United States for less than a decade, Obradovic began teaching college courses in New York City.

Among the courses she offers today are current terrorist movements, the Middle East, U.S. foreign policy, political leadership and an introduction to international relationships.

Some days find her commuting between all three schools.

Obradovic's students, according to one Web site on which professors are rated, find her engaging, fun and dedicated.

"She continually strived to better her students and developed many innovative and creative ways to ensure that her students excelled," Thomas Locascio of the St John's class of 2005, said via e-mail.

"Her wealth of knowledge and inspiring life experiences make her a truly remarkable individual who stands to serve as a role model."

Obradovic hopes her students will come away from her classes under-standing that "their voices matter, and that politics matters," she says.

"If they don't like something, it is their responsibility to act upon that. If you have a problem, step up to the plate. What have you done about it? Have you gotten involved in somebody's campaign? Get an internship. Do something if you don't agree. I want to convey my passion for politics with them."

Do you know an immigrant New Yorker who achieved his or her dream in our great city? E-mail Maite Junco at BigTown@nydailynews.com.