Dec. 17, 2007
By: Eric Scarcella
For many freshmen, that first fall semester is the hardest in one's collegiate career. Meeting new friends, living away from home, and being responsible for oneself are just a few of the many challenges the average college student faces within their first few months.
While all of those new adjustments may seem difficult, imagine if you traveled a long way from home. How long? How about 4,700 miles?
That's how far Penn State junior guard Nikola Obradovic has come. Despite the distance he has made a smooth transition from his home in Belgrade, Serbia and Montenegro to the United States. While the transition at first proved to be rough, Obradovic has adjusted to a new culture, new language and new support system.
"Most of what I learned about America was from movies, MTV, Hollywood stuff and stories from other people," admitted Obradovic as he warmed up for practice recently. "I think it's completely different than that. It's also completely different from Serbia though."
Obradovic, who had never been to the United States before playing for arriving to play for Penn State, made the smooth transition to American culture with the help of fellow junior and freshman-year roommate Jamelle Cornley. Cornley taught him a lot about America, Obradovic said. Along with Cornley, past roommate Will Leiner and current roommate David Jackson have helped Obradovic get used to the American lifestyle.
Yet, no one helped Obradovic feel at home more than fellow European and former teammate Milos Bogetic.
"The biggest support I had was Milos," Obradovic said. "He was here two years with me and came the same summer I came. We did most stuff together."
Bogetic, who now plays at Mercyhurst College in Erie, Pa., hails from the Montenegro part of Serbia and Montenegro. In fact, during recruitment for Bogetic, the Penn State coaching staff heard about Obradovic and decided to meet with him. Obradovic had heard about Bogetic's play for a Slovenian club team through word-of-mouth among colleagues in Serbia.
"I heard about him, but I never played any games against him," recalls Obradovic. "Coach (Kurt) Kanaskie actually said something about him and I'm like, `That sounds familiar.' It was so weird because we never played."
After long recruiting trips by head coach Ed DeChellis and Kanaskie overseas, Obradovic decided to leave the capital city of Serbia on the confluence of the Sava and Danube Rivers in the north central part of the country for America. Coming from a city with a population of over 1.5 million, the fourth largest in Southeastern Europe behind Istanbul, Athens and Bucharest, and foundations that date to the 7th century and Celtic and Roman periods to Central Pennsylvania was a big change.
"It was a big challenge for me because it was a different language, different culture, (and) different life," says Obradovic about his move to Pennsylvania. "But, I wanted to do that (a big challenge) for a while."
During his first few months, Obradovic learned much about the American way of life, specifically the differences between Penn State and his hometown of Belgrade.