Nela Popovic, events manager
I left Sarajevo when I was 15. That was 1992 and right before the siege of Sarajevo began. We thought we were only leaving for a couple of weeks until things settled. I left with my mum on the last bus before the city was besieged.
My dad stayed behind and remained in Sarajevo all through the siege [which lasted almost four years]. My sister was on a university trip and we met her from the airport in Belgrade. We spent the next few years moving around the former Yugoslavia staying with family.
I had only a small rucksack and packed very little clothes because, of course, we didn't know then we were leaving for good. I was a big Pink Floyd fan and took all my tapes with me. As a teenager that was what felt most important to me.
Arriving in London was a big shock. By then I was almost 18. London is a big machine and it swallows you up. Eventually you settle down and find a community, but initially it felt so fast-moving and like people didn't care. It taught me a lot about life. It was difficult for the first few years.
I did my secondary school education in three countries. I started in Bosnia, did a bit in Slovenia and finished it in the UK. I went to university and did a degree in psychology. After graduating, I spent 15 years working as an operations manager in museums and galleries.
READ MORE: What it feels like ... to play for Scotland at amputee football
When I heard the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games were coming to London, I knew I couldn't miss out on a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It was a short-term contract but told myself: be brave and go for it.
I worked at the ExCeL London which hosted 13 sports including taekwondo, fencing, weightlifting, boxing, table tennis, judo and wrestling. It was described as the most complex venue in the history of the Olympics and welcomed 1.6 million people. I had a team of 2,500 people to manage.
One of the venues I managed during the Paralympics was for the sitting volleyball. The Bosnian men's team won gold and that was a poignant moment. Many of the athletes had been injured or lost limbs during the Bosnian War. I have never seen pure heart like that before. It was incredible.
Afterwards, I moved to Scotland to work on the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games and managed a cluster of venues including the SEC complex. Something about Glasgow struck me and it felt similar to Sarajevo. The humour and openness of the people reminded me of where I grew up.
I decided to stay in Glasgow after the Games. I was offered a job as head of events for Kiltwalk helping organise mass participation sponsored walks to raise money for charity. Last year it attracted more than 14,000 walkers and raised £2.7m for charity.
READ MORE: What it feels like ... to save a life on Everest
The Hunter Foundation tops up whatever a walker raises by 40% – so for every £100 raised, £140 will go to the charity of their choice. It is a feel-good event and I would encourage anyone to give it a go.
The Royal Bank of Scotland Kiltwalk takes place in Glasgow on April 29 with events following in Aberdeen on June 3, Dundee on August 19 and Edinburgh on September 16. Visit thekiltwalk.co.uk
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here