VOLUME 11, NO. 1     MAY 1997

A Bosnian freshman goes home for the holidays

Adnan Mesalic '00 came to the United States as a high school senior in January 1996, to escape violence and complete the education that had been interrupted by years of fighting in his homeland. He was one of more than 70 promising Bosnian students brought here by New Hampshire philanthropist Richard Azzi, who hopes to salvage Bosnia's culture by providing refuge to members of the young generation in a safe environment where they can learn and grow. Armed with skills and education, the young people will thus be prepared to return and rebuild their war-torn nation.

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"It takes an army to scare us now."

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Mesalic, now 18, was hosted by the Holloway family of Topsfield, Mass., who provided a home and financial support. He finished high school and matriculated at WPI this fall. Mesalic returned to his home city of Tuzla during the winter break to visit his family and find out what's going on. He recently discussed his impressions with Alumni Editor Joan Killough-Miller. Here is an edited version of that conversation:

What was it like to go home, now that the war is ended?

It was wonderful. I still miss my family, and they miss me.

Is there peace? It is peaceful, I guess. You still don't know who's running the show. You don't know what's going to happen if peace stays. Everyone is busy fixing Sarajevo, and the rest of us are just waiting....

Are people's lives getting back to normal?

There is food, but there is no money. At the beginning of the war, people stopped receiving paychecks. So they made public utilities free. We got these little food packages, everything was free. At first the city budget could take it. They never thought the fighting would last so long. So money just left the system. There is no cash flowing through. All the bank accounts were closed on the first day of war. I don't think anyone is putting money in the bank.

What are your family's living conditions?

They are comfortable. They live in a little three-room apartment and make the equivalent of $300 a month. But there is nothing to buy. In a socialist country, no one has a house. If you wait long enough and get a high position, you might get a three-room apartment. But Yugoslavia was once the best of the socialist countries - because, for example, in Russia, you would live in just one room, and you would be happy!

Were things in Tuzla very different than when you left?

When I left there was still actual war happening. Any possible sound, and everyone hit the ground. People were living with the fear of dying every day. In four years of war, we got used to living with that. Simple rules changed. On the roadways, no one pays any attention to traffic lights or cars, the pedestrian doesn't bother to look and see who's coming and the driver doesn't care if he hits anyone. You just walk along and you see all these accidents happening, but it's no big excitement. They're taking care about what's happening now. Cars have license plates again.

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In Tuzla, Adnan spent time with his mother, left, and his grandmother.

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Did you feel safe there, when you went back?

When I went home and saw all those tough faces I got kind of scared. For example, if you go to a disco or club here in the U.S., they might check you at the door to see if you have a knife or anything, but in Bosnia, they have two checkpoints. At the first, a guy takes any obvious weaponry from you - like your AK-47, or grenades hanging from your jacket. (You see, during the war, soldiers would come into town from the trenches, still in uniform, with their full equipment, and go out to discos. So a guard would take away any obvious weaponry at the door). Then you split into two groups, girls and guys, to be searched for other weapons. But only guns and bombs. Knives were another thing. Everyone has a knife. What was really hilarious, was that for your rifle or gun, they would give you a claim ticket!

So, living here has changed your perspective.

Here in America, people are careful, but from a Bosnian point of view, it is way too careful. In the car, I started to put my seat belt on, and my mom is laughing at me, saying what are you doing? Not my friends, my mom is laughing at me, saying, 'Do we even have a seat belt?' Nothing scares us. It takes an army to scare us now. You might be aware that someone can really hurt you, but still, they don't scare you. When I went home, I knew that I wanted to make it back to the U.S. alive, so I was being careful about what was happening to me. But everyone else there just doesn't give a damn.

In your application to WPI, you wrote about your school being shelled during math class. You said that even going out to buy bread meant playing with your life. Is that why you wanted to get out?

I came here for the education. When I left Bosnia, the schooling system was falling apart. I was enrolled in Mesa Selimovic Grammar School, an academic high school considered the best and the hardest in Tuzla. The first year, we had real professors. The second year, they were all gone, we just had teachers. The professors were not paid enough, most of them left Bosnia to work elsewhere in Europe. The Bosnian university system has become very corrupt. People can easily buy their degrees by bribing professors.

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Even in beleagured Bosnia, the spirit of friendship is indomitable.

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What kind of future do you see for yourself?

There are absolutely no career opportunities in Bosnia. An education is worthless. With my degree, I could maybe get a job fixing radios. That is scary, actually, after all I've studied.

How else did the war affect the lives of young people?

It was basically very boring. There was excitement, with the shelling, but there was nothing to do. You go to school, you go out with your friends. There is nothing else that can happen there. You can only get shot. You cannot go ice skating, you cannot go skiing, or running [although] they are starting to have some concerts and sporting events. They couldn't have that before, because of fear of shelling the stadiums. On New Year's Eve, they were throwing hand grenades into the air. They were shooting. They had guns. They had rifles. They had drugs. Then a police officer showed up, and he joined us. Dear God, it's just unbelievable. When I came here, I was happy just to sit still and do anything, even go to school and study.

Are you in contact with other Bosnians who came to the U.S.?

Yes. I am the only one at WPI, but there are two at Clark. All my friends from my high school had already left when I started applying to get into the system. I had my papers forwarded to Mr. Azzi. About a month after my last friend came here, he gave an interview (I think it was in The Boston Globe). He said, 'I'm so happy, everything is wonderful, just...if only my friend could come here.' And he gave my name! The next day, people started calling, volunteering to be a host family. Mr. Azzi sent a ticket, and I went to live with Mr. and Mrs. Holloway and finish my senior year of high school.

Did you find school difficult here?

No, it was easier. I got a B+ in English, which was really surprising. I come from a place where I had to take 14 subjects, and now I am in a place where I can only take six subjects.

What about social differences?

In Bosnia, you go out, have a cup of coffee, see your friends, and you go home. It's kind of cozy. If someone from here were to come with me to Bosnia, he would make 50 friends on the first night. When I first arrived here, I was waiting for something like that, and it never happened.

What did you do when you went home to Tuzla?

First, I saw my mother, father and my 16-year-old sister. I went out with my friends. I traveled around the area to see places I had lived in before.

Was it difficult to leave again?

Yes, it was very hard. I had problems with my papers, and because I had mixed feelings, part of me wanted to stay. When I graduate, it will be a tough decision. If I go back to Bosnia, I would never get a visa to come back to the U.S. It would be too hard to save up the money to get a ticket, and I could not arrange to have my family members come over. Once I leave the U.S., it would be very difficult to get back here again.

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