Croatia: Antonija, 15

I live in a small village in Eastern Croatia, where everyone knows everything about other people’s lives (unless you’re really good at hiding your issues). But no matter what, people are ALWAYS there for you when you need them, ready to help. I have two older brothers, one older sister and one younger than me. When we were younger, we were inseparable, we had the same friends, we were spending whole days together, it didn’t matter that my oldest brother was eight years older than his youngest sister. Then my brothers started 6th and 5thgrades and suddenly the rest of us became just small kids in their eyes. They started growing up and we didn't.

In Croatia there are eight grades of elementary school which are compulsory and same for everyone. After that you basically have to choose what you want to be your whole life (at that time you're like 14 years old) and then there are four grades of high school. If you wanna be for example a hairstylist, you go to a high school for hairstylists, if you wanna be a doctor, you go to a medical school. Some of the easier programs lasts only for three years (e. g. hairstylist) but then you can't go to the university, so instead of that you usually start working, in this case as a hairstylist.

But if you study something more complicated than hair, your high school studies have four years. Than you have final examinations where your brain “fights” with other students's brains so you wouldn't have to pay for your university.

Smaller villages usually don't have high schools so if you live in one of them, you go to the nearest town. It takes about 10-30 minutes of travelling every day by train or bus depending on the specific city you've chosen.

My oldest brother just finished his first year at the university and I finished first grade of high school. Last year it all came back where it was when we were just a bunch of small kids, it all came where it belongs. We have a great relationship again, but it's still not completely the same and I'm afraid it will never be again.

Things have changed, we grew up (some of us still are) and we have a little bit different interests now, we're different people now, we don't follow each other's steps anymore, we have different opinions on things, different characters. But when I look around, I see that we're more than a happy family, that we're kind of a perfect family with some disagreements. Brown-haired and brown-eyed family with no place for boredom.

My dream? I'm dreaming of a complete family reunion, that we stick together, that we love each other more than ever before, but at the same time, I'm dreaming of travelling around the world. Maybe with them, maybe with new family, or even by myself, I really don't care, I just wanna see and meet new cultures, new people, animals… I don't actually know how I will ever do that because I barely get out of my house, I'm such a loner, I enjoy being alone, reading books, listening to music, drawing, watching series, I think I even like animals more than humans. I dont even like hanging around with a bunch of people, dancing and getting drunk on Saturday evenings that much.

I remember one of my childhood dreams.

When we were kids, we were asking our dad to buy us a horse every evening. We made him promise he'll buy us one when we're old enough, so me and my sister dreamed of our horses galloping through orchards and woods… That was pretty awesome. :) Eventually he did buy us, not one, but two horses, but we never actually did that. And since I really love animals, I dream of having my own animal shelter, to take care of the abounded dogs, cats and every single animal who will need me.

Antonija, 15yrs, a small village in Croatia

#sharedstory #15yrsold #europe