When Nevena Cvijetic was a little girl growing up in Serbia, she never imagined she’d one day be running a professional development program for graduate and professional students at a university in the United States.
“I never really knew what I wanted to be when I grew up,” she said.
Fast forward to today, and Cvijetic is flourishing in her role as executive director of leadership, professional, and career development for the Graduate College, where she oversees The Grad Academy, which offers free professional development opportunities for graduate and professional students.
Your family immigrated to the U.S. when you were 8 years old. How has that shaped your life?
We left a war-torn country only to experience culture shock in another. We landed with our suitcases and literally not one word of English. Let’s just say that ESL programming was not really a thing in Alaska in 2001 and the only other student who spoke Serbian in my school was two grades above me.
I was the first one in my family to learn English, and that came with a set of responsibilities, like accompanying my parents to doctors’ appointments, completing insurance forms, and arguing with the cable company. While we underwent many challenges, I wouldn’t change the experiences because they shaped the person I am today and now help me relate to the experiences of many UNLV students.
Tell us about your time at UNLV.
I earned a bachelor’s degree in public administration, a bachelor’s degree in health care administration, and an MBA from the Lee Business School. During my first semester of the MBA program, I was hired as a graduate assistant at the Graduate College – that changed the trajectory of my career, and I’ve been here ever since.
You are the executive director of leadership, professional, and career development at the Graduate College. Did you always know this is what you wanted to do?
I never really knew what I wanted to be when I grew up. Since freshman year, I’ve explored the fields of nursing, education, health care management, nonprofit work, and psychology. Higher education never crossed my mind. I just always knew that I wanted to inspire positive change within people, organizations, and communities. Looking back, I attribute much of my career trajectory to exceptional mentors who believed in me and pushed me to pursue different opportunities.
Are you happy with where you landed?
I’m actually grateful for not knowing what I wanted to be when I grew up. Exploring different fields and being open to new opportunities paved the way to what I didn’t know would be a dream job. I am grateful to be part of a team that empowers students to elevate their expertise and obtain in-demand workforce skills as they get ready to graduate and enter the working world. What excites me most about this role is that I know we are just getting started, and our potential to reach, influence, and impact students will continue to expand.
What do you want people to know about The Grad Academy, the Graduate College’s free professional development hub for graduate and professional students?
I want everyone to direct graduate and professional students to us. A lot of students don’t know the extent of the services we offer. Oftentimes, graduate students are hyper-focused on their research, which is a great thing because the goal of graduate school is to become an expert in your field. But it’s really important to me that while they are becoming experts in their fields, they do not neglect the transferable skills that will also help them during their career trajectory. When considering what programming to offer, we look at competencies that employers look for in applicants, some of which include communication, leadership, professionalism, and teamwork.
How do you spend your time outside of work?
I love to travel. I’ve visited almost a dozen countries, including Cuba and Australia. It’s incredible that there are thousands of cultures in the world, and I love learning about each place I visit -- exposing yourself to cultures different from yours helps you navigate the world from a more open and broad perspective.
You come from a cold climate. Is the winter ordeal better or worse than the Las Vegas summer heat?
I would take Las Vegas heat over Alaskan cold any day.
What would your last meal be? And how does that represent you?
Coffee. Enough said.
Best three-month stretch of the year?
October-November-December. Give me all the fall scents, sweaters, and family holidays.
