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I live and skate in Belgrade, Serbia.

Unfortunately figure skating is not a popular sport in my country.

The season here lasts for 6 months. There are only a few ice rinks here and when you count everything only one where skaters have conditions for a good work.

The practices usually start at 6:30 AM, I skate and then I hurry to school which starts at 8:30. During the work week I can sometimes go to the practices in the afternoon, but still rarely. Apart from the on ice practices, I train off the ice as well.

During the 6 months when the ice rink is closed, I do a lot of off ice training: running, stretching, ballet classes, power practices.

But it's not the same as when you skate.

With all the years I spent on the ice, skating became my way of life. I get up at 4:30AM in order to go to the cold ice rink, I work hard, I fall and I get up...and progress.

I don't complain because of my way of life. After these 10 years on the ice I couldn't even live the other way. I love this sport and I give 100% every time on the ice.

Not a lot of people can actually understand me. My friends are all the time saying that I am sacrificing too because I have completely dedicated myself to figure skating, but at the same time they admire me because of it.

And not a lot of people, especially those who are not involved in figure skating can understand how bad for an ice skater is that he or she can't skate during the summer. It feels bad when you think that so many other skaters all over the world are skating and preparing their programs, and you can't. That way I also don't have enough time to prepare for the important competitions which start in August/September already. Also, there is a kind of fear, of losing what I was learning so long...And there is not a lot that I can do or change. Things are the way they are... A lot of people don't even know that there are figure skaters in Serbia. We can hardly receive any kind of help.

All that I can do is to close my eyes on these things and just do what I can do best. Skate, try hard, whenever I can.

Some of the most beautiful moments for me are for sure those, when the little girls who skate in our club tell me that they want to become someone like me one day. I look back and it seems like it was yesterday when I was a little girl who admired her role models, watching them on the tv...

I am proud of the comments I hear about myself when I go to international competitions. People who are into Serbian figure skating for years say that I am something new, something better, something different for my country.

I keep looking forward and I give my best, never saying never. Because I know I can do it. I can, I wand, I will. I want to thank to my parents, my family and my friends who support me so much. I would also like to thank to my teachers who understand how hard it is for me to keep up with everything. And thank you, dear visitor, for reading the whole story. I will keep doing my best just as I did. Nobody ever said it would be easy. But I love it more than anything, and it is definitely worth of it.

Mila