Twenty-two-year-old Iva Ciglar is a prime example of the vibrant international diversity that can be found at FIU.

A native of Croatia, the point guard began playing basketball when she was 10 years old. Dreaming of one day starting her own business and raising a family, she left her home country to come to the United States – and she chose FIU to help her realize her goals.

Recently, we met with Ciglar and asked her a few questions:

What I enjoy most about basketball:
Definitely the competition and the team spirit.

The life of a scholar-athlete:
Sometimes it gets really challenging, balancing basketball with school, but after doing it for eight years I’ve gotten used to it. We practice three-four hours a day, so school time for me is later in the day and on weekends. There’s not much time left for fun, but I manage. Fun time is on the court, anyway.

On why she chose FIU:
When you’re 18 and you’re leaving your family behind, it’s hard. I knew I would find good friends and a sense of family here at FIU. I thought an international, diverse setting would be good for me.

My dream:
I hope that in 10 years I will be a mother and a wife. I hope that I’ll have a daughter or a son who’s going to be as passionate about basketball as I am. And I hope that I will have built a stable foundation for myself and my family.

Today, the finance major is well on her way.

FIU is so proud that this young woman is a member of the Golden Panther family that we are featuring her in a “Best in Class” ad campaign that is running in The Miami Herald.

The campaign began with a spotlight on last year’s valedictorians who chose to attend FIU. We recently expanded the campaign to include FIU faculty and researchers, scholar-athletes, student scholars and alumni.