Monika Radulović is not just a pretty face. The current Miss Universe Australia also has a degree in psychology from the Western Sydney University.
The Daily Telegraph writes that Monika aims to repay the country that accepted her and her family 21 years ago when they came there as refugees.
While most of the Miss Universe contestants talk about “changing the world and making it a better place for living,” Radulović decided to use her degree in the right way, by making specific changes and helping teenagers.
“Girls are sometimes very harsh to each other and they tend to make comparisons. I’m 25 years old and I still sometimes catch myself making comparisons to other people, at that moment I have to stop and tell myself that I’m great just the way I am”, says Monika.
During the last couple of months she has been visiting high schools, including her former school, to talk with young girls.
“I know how hard high school can be, and even after you graduate, it’s not simple. I’m glad that I have this opportunity to visit schools and talk about the lessons I’ve learned, because I can maybe help them by doing this. My message is, although it sounds corny and cliché, to be what they really are. Social networks lie, people don’t really look like that, but girls going through puberty don’t know that,” says Monika.
She adds that she could never imagine herself working as a model, and she started doing that job to make additional money. She realized that it’s also an opportunity to work on herself, and today she wants to combine these two jobs.
Monika, together with her mother Vinka and father Goran, fled Bosnia and Herzegovina when she was only 18 months old. First, they lived in Denmark, and in 1994 they moved to Australia.
“In the beginning, it wasn’t easy, imagine coming to a country where you have no money, job, or place for living. Besides, my mother was eight months pregnant with my brother Stefan,” said Monika.
She also adds that she is extremely grateful to her parents: “Before everything I do, I ask myself if my parents will be proud of me. They sacrificed so many things for me and my brother”.
Monika is engaged to Sydney artist, Alesandar Ljubičić.
(Source: klix.ba)
