Ena Safaric Ena: The Real London

I come from Croatia, and I’m an only child. I really love my country, it’s really safe, sunny – really nice coastline and sea, and I love to go back there and see my family. We have a summerhouse between Dubrovnik and Split, and that’s where I've spent two months every year of my life.

I was always a good student, even though I didn’t like primary school very much! University’s just the best experience though because you can study just what you’re interested in.

I always wanted to find a career that I loved and my dad was my inspiration because he loves his job. He works in sales, and when I was 14/15 he was telling me how close marketing is to sales, and about some of the psychology behind marketing. I just decided to do marketing and that's still my favourite part of marketing – why people behave the way they do.

I saw that London Met was for me when on the website it said there were many international students here – I was always afraid I would be the only one. It’s not as scary as it seems when you move – you’re not alone.

I’ve never had a big friend group – I just prefer having a couple of close friends. I met another Croatian here – we are still friends. I also have a Lithuanian friend who grew up here – we are also very close. We used to go to volleyball together, or the gym, the cafe, have house parties as well – I always had good experiences.

When you meet people from different backgrounds, you see points of view that you never saw before, and it just makes you think about other cultures. In Croatia, there is not so much diversity.

My parents came to London for the first time when I graduated. It was a fulfilling feeling. It’s great to have a certificate. Graduating was something I wanted for many years. Now I’m constantly trying to figure out what's next in my life, what will bring me joy, fulfilment, peace, happiness.

When I first moved to London I went to see the London Eye, Tower Bridge, Big Ben – and even though it was so crowded, it was so peaceful for me because I got to see them in real life, after 20 years of looking at them on the tv – and I remember the London Eye seemed so huge! London is a very diverse, busy city, but you can have a lot of fun in it.

Here at London Met there were some lecturers that were really experienced in the subjects they were teaching, and they were always open to questions and suggestions. They always had time for me.

In my second year, I got a job in the careers department which was a great support during my studies and when I graduated, I saw this job opportunity for a digital marketing coordinator. So without London Met, without the qualification I got from it, without the people that I met here, I wouldn’t have had all these experiences, and now I’m doing the job I've wanted to do since I was fifteen.

That’s one of my favourite things about London – all the opportunities, all the people, experiencing different cultures. It opened many doors for me, living in London and going to London Met.