Marijana Radmilović
1971
Marijana was born in Vinkovci and graduated in Croatian language and literature in Osijek, where she lives now. Since 1997, she has worked at the Secondary School of Economics in Vukovar, where she teaches Croatian to Serbian minority students. She has hitherto published three independent books of poetry and a book of short stories.
On the last day, the graduates traditionally wear their graduation T-shirts. On mine, it reads “Is anyone paying attention?” because I tend to say it in class. They counted once, and I said it 30 times – but I think it was a double lesson. At least I hope it was! I’m saddened by the fact I had to take it off when I arrived in Osijek. You must always bear in mind where you’re going and whether your environment accepts it. Here, the Cyrillic script is still kind of exotic, as if all of us never learned it.
On the occasion of graduating from secondary school, the graduates of the Vukovar Economy School made in 2024 a T-shirt for their homeroom teacher Marijana Radmilović, who teaches Croatian language and literature. The inscription they chose is a humorous quote which they often heard her say in class: “Is anyone paying attention?” On one occasion, they counted each time she said it, and got to as many as 30 in a single class.