Giuliana Jaku grew up in northern Italy, close to Venice, surrounded by friends, family, and a life she describes simply as good. But even with that foundation, she knew she wanted to see more of the world. She wanted new places, new challenges, and a future that felt like her own.
“I always wanted to travel,” Giuliana said. “I always wanted to experience. I always wanted to go somewhere, try something else.”
That drive eventually brought her to the United States, first to a junior college in Florida and then to Goldey-Beacom College. Her path was not simple. It included distance from home, injury, uncertainty, and the pressure of trying to build a future without a clear safety net.
But for Giuliana, staying comfortable was never the goal.
Education meant something personal to Giuliana. Her parents worked hard, but neither had the opportunity to attend college. Her mother went through middle school. Her father went through high school. Her brother wanted to continue his education, but the family did not have the money for it.
“My brother was supposed to, but my family didn’t have enough money,” Giuliana said. “They really wanted me to go to college because my brother didn’t have the opportunity.”
For Giuliana, college was not only about earning a degree. It was about doing something more with her life, building independence, and honoring the people who believed in her. She knew the path would require work because that had always been part of her story.
“I know I always had to work for what I wanted,” she said.
That motivation came from more than one place. She wanted to do it for herself, but her family’s belief in her also pushed her forward.
“I need to do things for them too, because they believe in me so much,” Giuliana said. “But that’s motivating me to do it for myself too.”
Giuliana has been playing volleyball for almost 14 years. For her, it has never been just a sport or just a way to compete. It has been a steady place to return to when life felt uncertain.
“It’s always been my safe place,” she said. “If there’s something wrong with me or with my life, I know if I go and play volleyball, I feel better.”
Volleyball also became part of her path to college in the United States. She started at a junior college in Florida, where she had two years of eligibility as a volleyball player. When those two years were over, she needed to transfer to continue her education and athletic career.
That transfer process came at a difficult time. During her sophomore year, Giuliana tore her ACL. She had surgery, missed playing time, and struggled to stay focused on school while dealing with recovery far from home.
“I hurt my ACL,” she said. “I was by myself on the other side of the world. I needed to have surgeries.”
Her grades were not where she wanted them to be. Her volleyball highlights were limited. The path forward became less certain, especially as an international student looking for another opportunity.
“But I managed to graduate,” Giuliana said.
When asked why she did not simply go to college in Italy, Giuliana’s answer came back to the same instinct that had shaped much of her life. She wanted to grow. She wanted to experience something different. She wanted more than one place, one routine, or one version of what her life could be.
“I couldn’t just sit at the same place, doing the same thing my whole life,” she said. “I needed something more.”
The United States was one option, but the bigger goal was exploration. If she had not come here, Giuliana said she would have found another country and another challenge. She has always felt drawn to new environments, even when they were difficult.
“I would have traveled somewhere else in Europe,” she said. “I would have gone to another country.”
That willingness to step into the unknown helped her keep going after injury, transfer uncertainty, and the emotional weight of being far from home.
The transition to the United States was a major change, although Giuliana said she did not fully feel it right away. When she first arrived, the volleyball season started quickly. Practices, classes, and daily responsibilities filled her schedule, leaving little time to think about how different everything was.
“I was so into what was going on in that moment that I wasn’t even thinking about how different was my life before,” she said.
After a few weeks, the differences became more noticeable. The food was different. The pace was different. Even the way people moved through the day felt different from what she knew in Italy.
“The food is different, the people, the pace,” Giuliana said.
One of the biggest adjustments was how quickly people seemed to move through meals. In Italy, food is often slower and more social. In the United States, she noticed people grabbing food, eating quickly, and going right back to work.
“I need to sit and digest my food and eat slowly,” she said. “Have my time, talk a little bit.”
Over time, Giuliana adapted, but she also kept pieces of home in her routine. Coffee in the morning became one of those small rituals that helped her feel grounded.
“I need my coffee in the morning.”
Being away from home changed over time. At first, Giuliana missed Italy in the expected ways. But as months became years, the feeling became more complicated.
“When the months become years, that’s when things get tricky,” she said.
Going home for winter break brought that tension into focus. She missed her family deeply, but she also realized her life no longer felt fully rooted there in the same way.
“I felt I wasn’t belonging there anymore,” Giuliana said. “I miss my family a lot. But at the same time, I don’t see my life there anymore.”
That is one of the hardest parts of studying far from home. Students grow and change, but so do the people they left behind. Giuliana felt that most strongly with her parents.
“You see your parents after 4 years, getting older,” she said. “You’re not there to see them.”
Still, that distance became part of her motivation. She was building a life for herself, but also working toward a future where she could help the family that had supported her from the beginning.
“I think this is gonna help me to get what I want to get and help my parents at the end of the day too,” she said.
Goldey made me rethink myself. I changed my idea about small schools. The amazing people that I met, I’m gonna keep them for life. Goldey gave me a 2nd opportunity. They believed in me since the 1st day.
After junior college, Giuliana had a few options, including schools in Minnesota and near Kansas. But her injury and academic challenges made the transfer process difficult. Not every school was willing to take a chance.
GBC was.
“The fact that I had a full ride, that was something that not every school does,” Giuliana said. “Even though my situation wasn’t the best.”
That scholarship mattered because it made the opportunity possible. But the location also stood out. Giuliana liked that GBC was connected to other cities, easy to move around from, and in an area that felt safe.
“I like the area,” she said. “You’re really connected to other cities and you can move around easily. And also it’s pretty safe.”
For Giuliana, GBC offered more than a place to finish her degree. It offered a second chance at a moment when she needed one.
“Goldey gave me a 2nd opportunity,” she said. “They believed in me since the 1st day.”
Giuliana came to GBC to continue her education and volleyball career, but the people are what she says she will carry with her most. As a business administration major with a concentration in marketing, she found a small campus community that changed how she thought about smaller schools.
“Goldey made me rethink myself,” she said. “I changed my idea about small schools.”
At GBC, she found teammates, roommates, educators, international students, staff, and people outside of the College who became part of her experience. The community felt personal in a way she had not expected.
“The amazing people that I met,” she said. “I’m gonna keep them for life.”
That kind of connection reflects what GBC aims to be: small by design, supportive, and focused on helping students move forward without getting lost in the shuffle. For Giuliana, the size of the College helped make those relationships possible.
“Everybody’s so nice,” she said. “This is crazy.”
Giuliana is preparing to graduate in May. Her next step is still open, and she is honest about that. She would like to stay in the United States and pursue a master’s degree, but that depends on scholarships, opportunities, and money.
“If I had to pick, I would definitely get my master’s,” she said. “But if that opportunity comes to me, I’m gonna take it. But if it doesn’t, means that I have to do something else.”
She is looking at jobs in the United States and Europe. She is weighing graduate school. She is staying flexible because flexibility has helped carry her this far.
“At the end of the semester, I will pick the one that’s more convenient and best for me.”
Giuliana’s story is about travel, but it is also about resilience. It is about a student who left home to build something of her own, kept going after injury, found a second chance, and discovered a community she did not expect to mean so much.
“I will definitely miss Goldey,” she said.
Goldey-Beacom College is a Equal Opportunity Employer/Program. Auxiliary aids and services are available upon request to individuals with disabilities.
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