One way to describe Gurra is through the tiny details about her life – she adores noodles and espresso, dogs are her best friend and she agrees with Stephen Hawking that artificial intelligence is an existential threat to humanity. Another way is through her passions – she has been a ballerina for 14 years, loves hiking with her father, does web design (even as a part-time job), and creates art. Still, Gurra’s multidimensional nature requires a smarter approach, since her qualities are rooted in the way she's advanced through her life. Allow me to explain:

At only 2 years old, during her first ballet lesson, she fell in love with and realized it is way more than bodily movement. As the “first ballerina in the family”, she dedicated herself to ballet, which became her career. Throughout the years, her numerous achievements at international competitions culminated in her performance at the world premiere of Cleopatra by the Russian choreographer Vasily Medvedev. Unfortunately, a sudden incident befell Gurra at just 14 years old which eventually became an insurmountable challenge – during one of her lessons, Gurra slipped and broke her foot. Upon being rushed to the hospital, doctors informed her that a surgery will be necessary and that her ballet career is in danger. Even numerous treatments did not change this, and Gurra found herself in an emotional dead-end – lost and separated from her life’s passion.

At this point, Gurra’s deep qualities surfaced – despite tremendous disappointment and difficulties, she experimented in different fields. She needed a purpose. Once she finally found herself in IT, this new beginning allowed her to commit herself with equal desire and passion to learning full-stack web development. Only a year after, she is a prolific developer building sites professionally for clients, yet the positive change has slipped over to the rest of her life – Gurra now (at 16 years old) works as a ballet instructor for young girls and has founded her NGO. Combining her two primary passions, Gurra has a vision to create an advanced interactive platform for dance education, which demonstrates to me how she’s one of the rare people who have found a perfect means of turning their unusual story into value for others.

There are many names for the qualities that Gurra embodies through her adaptability: maturity, courage, vision, faith and unconditional perseverance. I am not a good enough writer to choose the right name; my task was simply to show you the evidence. An abundance of such evidence lies ahead with her departure to UWC RCN, which is one more milestone in her journey that hides infinite potential.

Ilija, August 2022