Katrina Cerovic

Professor

“A car? You can lose it. A house? You can lose it overnight. But your education? That will stay with you all your life.”

Just imagine. One day you have a Master’s degree in electrical engineering and a 20-year career behind you in your nation’s department of water and power. Then the next day, your government takes away everything you own—because of a war—and says to you ‘Sorry!’ What would you do? Where would you go? For Katarina Cerovic, formerly of Yugoslavia—under the rule of the anarchic and criminal Milosevic regime, the choice was a family matter

“My daughter was in school in the US when our government plundered all the money we had,” says Katarina. “So we took a vote in the family, and decided that I would have to go to America to help my daughter, who was studying here. I came,” she continues, “with $300 in borrowed money, and stayed in UCLA dorm rooms until I could find work—as a nanny,” says Katarina. “But finally, SMC gave me a chance to teach all the knowledge I have. And I’m so grateful, because the Math Department at SMC is so very, very excellent.”

As time begins to soften the trauma of the war in Yugoslavia, Katarina says that it’s now time to give back to her students a lifetime of wisdom and experiences. “I came here with nothing, then drove 150 miles a day to teach, then found my way to a college where I’m truly appreciated,” she says. “SMC has given me all the reasons I’ll ever need to contribute something to this country—and its students—that I love so much.

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