Editors’ Note: This is the fourth in a series of features Niles West immigrants in celebration of International Weeks.

Three years ago, senior Emma Zivkovic’s parents sat her and her older brother down and told them that they were moving to America.  This would mean leaving behind everyone else in her family and all of her friends to come to a place she had only thought of in an abstract, dreamlike way.

“It wasn’t really a shock; my family had been talking about it for a while.  But once we actually got here, everything really started to sink in,” Zivkovic said.  “Everything was so different.”

According to Emma, making the move from Croatia to Chicago in the middle of her sophomore year was one of the hardest but best things that has ever happened to her.  She now has access to much better opportunities.

“Plus, to be honest, I just love America,” Zivkovic explained.  “I wasn’t happy living in Croatia, and when I came here, it just felt like home.”

And shockingly, despite what one might think would happen with such a sudden move across the globe, Zivkovic is thriving here in America.  She is currently in three AP classes, heavily involved in theatre, and a member of several different clubs around Niles West.

One of those AP classes is AP Literature.  Zivkovic speaks outstanding English, and not just for someone that moved to an English speaking country a few years ago.  Yes, she still has an accent, but no one will ever really catch her asking how to say something.  She already knows.  As soon as she found out she was moving to America, Zivkovic began to dedicate the majority of her free time to learning English.

“I learned English in Croatia, but it’s kind of like how people learn languages in school here starting a lot earlier.  We learn how to write and read and speak very formally.  But when I found out I was coming here, I started watching [English] movies without subtitles and listening to a lot of music.”

Emma has not completely abandoned her roots, but she has embraced all that America has to offer.  For her, the main difference between the two cultures isn’t the food, school life, or anything of that nature.  America, she will tell anyone who’s interested, encourages individuality – in clothing, in ideals, in dreams.  Croatia has a different mentality according to Emma, who says that her experience in her homeland focused more on the entire country.

“Here, when I stand out, it’s good.  I’m different, and nobody thinks that’s a bad thing.  It’s great to be free to be unique.”