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A Refugee's Odyssey

From Serbia to Harvard Extension School

Many students decide to pursue their associate's or bachelor's degree at Harvard University Extension School because of the freedom to design their own courses of study. More than simply an opportunity to attend college, the liberal arts philosophy of the undergraduate degree program encourages academic exploration. For Jasmin Mehovic, ALB '98, that academic autonomy is something he never imagined while growing up.

Jasmin Mehovic, ALB '98

Mehovic, an ethnic Bosnian, was born in Priboj, in Serbia, Yugoslavia. His father, a community worker and a communist activist, believed that in order to contribute to society one needed to produce material objects; this type of work was the only kind suitable for a man. His mother worked as a shop assistant at the corner market. Mehovic's household, his town, and even his country did not encourage a great deal of exploration in education or careers. In this context the question common to most Westerners, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" was understood as "How best can you serve your fatherland?" said Mehovic. It was not an inquiry about one's visions and desires, but rather it was aimed at exploring the needs of society and their expectations of the next generation.

The concept of education as a path to personal growth was foreign to Mehovic. "Learning was understood as a tool for becoming better citizens," he explained, "not for individual development. In Eastern Europe, under communism, your course was determined for you in terms of education, career, and even where you could live. There was no place for personal initiative because your path had already been planned: it began with education, military service, maybe college, and then to a job."

After high school Mehovic spent a year fulfilling his Yugoslavian military service in Croatia. (After serving in the army, Yugoslavians become reservists until they are 65 years old.) At age 18 he moved to Sarajevo and began attending the University of Sarajevo part-time where he studied law while working at various jobs, including cook, waiter, mechanic, and jewelry maker. Mehovic said that his choice of law in college stemmed from an interest in sociology that began in his teens. "I was interested in understanding my culture's system because I wanted to change the way it operated. I lived in a welfare state that didn't have much in the way of services; we didn't even have the kind of aid that generally exists in states without welfare such as charitable organizations or aid from religious groups. I thought that law would be a good place to work to instigate change. If I were a writer I could go to prison for trying to change the system. I thought that a career in law might be the best place to argue for change without the inherent danger."

The system of government began to change far sooner than Mehovic and many others had expected. The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (composed of the five republics of Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia, and Macedonia) had been under communist rule since 1945; in 1990 the first multiparty elections were held. As nationalist sentiment rose in the Serbian Republic in 1991, Slovenia and Croatia declared their independence and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia called upon the Federal Army (JNA) to stop these secessions. The result was that Yugoslavia was able to retain only one third of the republic of Croatia. By early 1992 it was clear that Macedonia would soon be declaring its independence from Yugoslavia, and Bosnian citizens voted to do the same. Once Bosnia declared its independence, the JNA began their attack on the republic by shelling the city of Sarajevo.

In 1992, when Mehovic was 25, the war in Bosnia brought an end to his plans. "Basically I had spent a year avoiding service in the army, " he explained. "Finally that spring I had had enough and I hit the road. It was a very confusing time, nobody knew what was going to happen, there was no way to know. In the end it came down to following my own instincts as to the safest course." Concerned that being conscripted into the army would compromise his parents' safety because they were living in Serbia, he became part of the first wave of refugees created by a war that would eventually displace millions. Like many other refugees Mehovic found asylum in Sweden. However, he spoke only Serbo-Croatian. The inability to communicate was a terrible experience for him. Feeling alienated because he could not express himself, he started visiting the local library and learning English using a set of eight language tapes. Within five months, he had passable English skills and began working as an interpreter with the Swedish Committee for Refugees, translating for social workers who were helping refugees in Geteborg, Sweden.

After a year in Sweden Mehovic joined his brother--also a refugee--in Padova, Italy. There he worked for Centro Assistenza Croatia, a Catholic relief organization, guiding refugees through the process of obtaining work permits and housing, loading trucks with humanitarian aid, and selling lace made by refugee women. He also worked as a recruiter for a school for detectives and was an assistant in a glass factory.

During this time Mehovic also began learning Italian and making plans to study sociology at the University of Padova. But the admission process was prolonged because it was impossible to obtain his transcripts from the University of Sarajevo. When an American friend suggested that he consider the Harvard University Extension School, Mehovic set his sights on moving to Boston. Centro Assistenza Croatia, the organization that had sponsored him and provided him with work in Italy, wrote a letter of support to immigration, and in the fall of 1994 he began taking courses at the Extension School.

Mehovic is very happy with his decision. "The Extension School has its own identity and I love it; it is a unique place," he said. "I don't think that Harvard University would be complete without it. The existence of this school shows that Harvard takes into account those people who, like myself, may not have had the same opportunities as others. It is a progressive idea, and I think of it as Harvard's good deed. I have had classmates who already have their PhDs. I feel like the students here make the professors try to exceed themselves [by becoming better teachers] because they know that we have something to bring to the discussion. It's a very friendly environment where people want to learn.

"At the University of Sarajevo I had to say that I was studying law, even though I was not completely sure it was what I wanted. At the Extension School I chose to do a field of study in government, but took a number of history courses and a variety of others," Mehovic said. "Sometimes I felt like I was changing my mind about what I wanted to do every week, with every class. It was exciting. People come here with the desire to learn. In my 32 courses I never met anyone who didn't come to class without that perspective."

In Cambridge, as in Sarajevo, Mehovic was a part-time college student working a full-time job. However, this time his academic and financial pursuits were not quite as disparate as law and jewelry making. Working at Harvard's Government Documents Collection, he found not only financial but also academic support. It provided him with more than simply a living.

"Working as a full-time employee at the library, I found that my co-workers and supervisors were very supportive of my educational pursuits," said Mehovic. "The whole environment has an academic focus. I know fellow students who work other places and the people at their jobs just don't understand why they rush out of work for a commute into Harvard Square and a night of classes. Here many people take courses in the evening and everyone supports what you are doing. It's like being part of a club."

As a Harvard employee, Mehovic was also eligible for financial support through Harvard's Tuition Assistance Program (TAP), which meant that he could afford to take more courses each semester. "For the first two years TAP paid for one course and I paid for two additional courses each semester," he remembered. "The Extension School is financially a good deal, but when you earn $17,000 a year even inexpensive tuition is still a big portion of your income. I was able to afford it in part by living in Somerville with five roommates. Now that I have my degree I have a better paying job at Harvard, and can afford a studio apartment in Cambridge."

Mehovic progressed rapidly through the degree program, taking three courses a semester while working full-time. He graduated in November of 1998. In August Mehovic began a two-year master's program in communication, culture, and technology, with an emphasis on cross-cultural communication, at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. He credits his experiences with cultural displacement--and the attendant difficulties in communication--and a liberal arts education for his goals. After completing his master's degree Mehovic hopes to work in radio or television communication for a nonprofit organization such as NPR, PBS, or maybe the United Nations.

Mehovic's parents continue to live in his native town on the Bosnian-Serbian border, and his brother remains in Italy. He has not been able to return home since 1992 but hopes to visit Bosnia and his parents one day soon.

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