Age, 19
Based in Sydney, Australia
Performer, Music Teacher, and Communications student

What we want to see in the future is a testament to what we have seen. Our personalities, beliefs, goals and dreams for the future are all shaped by our experiences. My experience of life so far has been rather unusual.

When I was three months old my parents took me back to Turkey where they had been living and working for the previous two years as missionaries. After another year in the capital, Istanbul, my parents moved to the mountains of Bulgaria and began working with Turkish speaking gypsies called 'Millet.'

Despised by the Bulgarians and living a hard life since the recent fall of communism, the gypsies lived in shantytowns on the outskirts of Kurdzhali (the town we lived in).

My parents gave up amazingly privileged lives, here in Australia, both with promising careers as doctors, to go and share God's love with people who desperately needed hope. This is the life style and example with which I grew up.

I attended a Turkish kindergarten and a Bulgarian Primary school where I was emotionally and physically bullied, not only because I was a 'foreigner' but also because I was seen playing with the gypsy children who were considered 'dirty' and treated like scum. It is from these experiences at such a young age, that I learnt how important it is to stand up for what you believe is right, regardless of the persecution you may face as a result.

When I was ten years old we left Bulgaria and my childhood behind, moving to England, ready to start a new life. My parents started training others to go out and become missionaries and we all spent the next few years dealing with the culture shock of being in the western world.

As a child I had dyslexia, and really struggled with reading, writing and spelling, especially in three different languages. In my first few years at school I would sit down with my mum, who would take my hand and trace the letters and words with me, hoping that I would be able to learn them through muscle memory as my brain couldn't put them together. When we left Bulgaria I was three years behind my peers, and really struggling academically.

Although I was never academically gifted like everyone else in my family, I had a huge passion for the performing and creative arts; in particular I had a gift for singing. So when we moved to England, I auditioned for a theatre school and was accepted, ready to begin seventh grade.

Though I had found my love for performance and everything creative at the new theatre school, England turned out to be the hardest three years of my life – full of bullying and isolation, mainly because I continued to stand up for what I believed in. It was during these years that my faith and trust in God grew deeper, and I discovered the importance of qualities such as humility.

When I was thirteen my parents moved us (my little brother and I) back to Australia. I went straight into a Performing Arts High School and everything came together! I was so happy. I had an amazing group of friends and my love for life and people became all consuming. For the first time since my childhood, I felt like I could be myself and that people accepted and loved me for who I am.

It took a huge amount of hard work, and a lot of patience and dedication from my parents, but in these years I worked until I overcame my dyslexia. Three years after we moved to Australia, my dyslexia was no longer recognisable and I could no longer be diagnosed with it.

I had my rebellious teenage years where I tested and tried both the boundaries surrounding me, and my faith. All, however, were simply lessons in how to deal with life.

At school, I took every single leadership opportunity that I could which taught me amazing life skills and lead the way to a huge blessing – a scholarship to study at university.

Having made the decision when I left school that people were a greater passion and more important to me than the selfish world of performing, I enrolled in a communications degree, and braced myself, ready to change the world.

I have no twenty-year plan for the future. I believe that like my life so far, God will guide me towards the things I should be doing and the people I should be with. In the meantime my dream is to give a voice to new immigrants in Australia using the performing and creative arts. If I can play a significant part in influencing the Australian opinions of new immigrants, and break down the barriers built by fear so that people can see the rich and vibrant cultures that others have to share (like I experienced as a child), then maybe there's a chance that our society can develop and take a step forward toward creating a better and more equal world.

My personal goal is to share God's love and His hope with everyone I meet.

For now I'm still studying Public Relations and loving it, teaching singing and performing whenever I can, surrounding myself with amazing passionate people, rewriting the rules of life as I start my own independent existence (having moved out of home at 18), and holding on to God's truth and love with all of my strength.

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