From The Citadel to NATO: a 2002 graduate’s journey

On Monday, March 24, Vlasta Zekulic, Ph.D., ’02, returned to campus and shared her insights with an audience of students, faculty and staff in Capers Hall with her talk on the challenges of living in a complex and uncertain world.

Zekulic is no stranger to conflict. A native of Croatia, she grew up witnessing her country’s struggle for independence from Yugoslavia. As a teenager, she attended a Croatian police academy and later was accepted into a government program to study abroad at a U.S. military college, which is how she found herself attending The Citadel in the fall of 1998 during the college’s early years of coeducation.

“I am a planner. I wasn’t a planner before The Citadel,” said Zekulic, who remembered learning the task of writing down goals from members of cadre. “What is one thing you want to achieve? How do you break that little goal into monthly goals and then weekly? How do you go to bed every single day asking yourself, ‘Am I a step closer to the goal I want to achieve?’… It was the lesson I learned here, and I took it with me for the rest of my life.”

After graduating from The Citadel in 2002 with a degree in computer science, Zekulic began a fascinating 20-year career in the Croatian army, retiring with the rank of lieutenant colonel. Today, she is the branch head of strategic issues and engagement at NATO Allied Command Transformation.

Zekulic’s talk was coordinated by Accounting Professor Cindy Bolt, and Professor Tracey Sigler, Ph.D., who serves as head of the Department of Leadership Studies.

A recording of the talk is available in the Daniel Library’s digital archives.