I was born and raised in Shkoder, Albania. A very small country, that even if you try to point it on the
map, you will not be able to. Both of my parents were lawyers. They worked very hard to provide me and my sister the opportunity
to go to a private school, which back there are very expensive. I was a hyperactive child, in addition to
schooling, my parents also included me in various extracurricular activities. I started playing basketball
since my 2nd grade where I was also playing for the national team of my city, Vllaznia for the U16
category. Also, in 2nd grade, my parents put me in ballet and dance. There I became very connected
with music and art. For years I rarely practiced both activities until one day my grandfather bought me a
gift, a piano for children. That's when I wanted to try this musical instrument. I played the piano for
about a year, but as I grew older, the workload at school increased, so I had to prioritize the lessons and
maybe the activities I had more experience in.
My parents wanted me to excel in all my courses and started getting tutors for the foreign language
English, or science subjects like Chemistry, Biology, Mathematics and Physics. During my free time I watched movies in the Turkish language, little by little I started to speak Turkish guessing from the movies. Because of the great passion I had for the language, they were interested and
enrolled me in a cultural night school where I learned the Turkish language, culture, traditions, and
Turkish arts. Art was where I found myself and I still do it today. The art of EBRU is an art that originated
in Asia, but from the wars it received the greatest development in Turkey, where the Turkish Sultans
used it as a decoration in their royal palaces. This art is very special as it is made with ground paints and
many other ancient materials that are very difficult to find. EBRU's paintings are made on the surface of
water and are taken from it with paper and left to dry for 24 hours in order to get the final product.
Everything was going very well; I was engaged in various activities in the city. I was selected among the
10 student ambassadors of the city where we also formed the youth government of Shkodra. I attended
various activities, training or workshops aimed at personal development. Although I was young, I knew
what my goals were and what I was most concerned about was higher education and the major I
wanted to choose. I was confused because I was very good and enjoyed science subjects, but at the
same time I also liked art and handwork. All the time I was thinking about how I could combine these
two fields with each other, until the moment I was accepted as a volunteer in the department of
dentistry in the regional hospital of Shkodra. Due to staff shortage, I did more than my volunteering
description was.
As everything was going very well, my parents both had stable jobs and one of the most popular
professions in Albania, my sister and I were educated in one of the best schools in the city, and at the
same time, we also attended extracurricular activities that to form as best as possible intellectually or
even physically from sports, one day comes a news that is both sad and happy.
The American lottery is one of the most famous applications in Albania, due to different difficult
circumstances, mainly economic and politically, young people are only destined to leave the country,
but it was different with us. Wanting not to go over the details, receiving the answer that we had won
the lottery made us both happy and shocked.

We were in the middle of many dilemmas if we should take this initiative and come to America or
decline the American papers. It took us about 1 year to make the decision to continue the process of
letters. My parents went through a lot of stress after they had worked hard to build everything in
Albania and for a moment, they left everything behind. Mostly mom, she had a much harder time.
Coming to America faced more difficulties. I did not speak the language very well. Culture shock hit me
so hard. It was the time when I felt myself responsible for many things since I was the one who had
insisted the most on coming to America. I also felt responsible for bringing home money, even though I
was only 16 years old.
I looked at my mother who was just crying all the time because she had left all her mother and siblings
there, she had left a noble profession that was hard to get in America.
I would call this period of life a struggle for survival. I encountered an education system completely
different from the one I had attended. Of all the classes I did in Albania, the system here didn't recognize
almost any subject. I risked not graduating on time, which was not my goal. I tried to get included with
activities at school in order to relieve stress. I started doing wrestling, where for the first time, I also won
medals in the tournaments I went to. I worked very hard, took classes in the morning and also went to
night school and summer school to fulfill all the credits that I was missing. I felt a great responsibility on
my shoulders because it seemed to me that if I did not manage to succeed in education, I would ruin all
the efforts my parents had made. I started taking college classes at the College of Staten Island to get
ahead in my studies, I took principles of Bio. While studying for Regents and SATs, I also helped my mom
going to different doctors and interpreting for her as she does not speak English. It was when we won
the lottery that mom didn't feel well, but after coming to America it got even worse. The doctors we
went to said it was due to stress and they gave her various anti-depressants which put her to sleep. I
tried to study because I had a passion for it, work, and help my family. I was accepted to the college
where I study now, St. Francis College, and I worked hard to be as involved as possible in academics,
clubs, events or work positions at school. During my sophomore year, we didn't leave a doctor without
going, a neurologist suggested we go to NYU Langone, Parkinson’s, and Movement Disorders
department, as it was suspected that mom had Parkinson's. I can say that I felt like a bomb crashed in
front of my eyes.
Dr. Frucht, now also my mother's doctor, diagnosed her with Parkinson's disease. Even he himself was
shocked how a woman so young in age had this kind of illness, all this was a consequence of the stress
she had gone through. I can say there that I almost ended my dreams of becoming a dentist. I felt myself
and still feel very guilty about this since I was the one who insisted that we mostly come here. Since my
mother was diagnosed with this disease, I had a “fall” in the academic level because I spent a lot of time
at doctors or physical therapy offices to help my mother.
However, I tried to motivate myself and fill myself with energy through the various activities I was
involved in at school. I decided not to give up and overcome any obstacles that would show up during
my journey.
To this day, my mother is in a state where it is very difficult to walk or perform her needs. I tried to be at
school only a few days and devote the other days to her and her needs.
As for the rest, during the summer I applied for various internships in local dental offices. I have worked
in two dental clinics so far.