She was only 7 years old when she and her sister came to America to join the rest of the family.
For the Albanian-American Drita Vucinaj, the two-year period before being reunited with her parents was very difficult.
“I was born in Kelmendi, Albania. My earliest memories of my childhood were the hardest memories. When I was 5 years old, I found out my mom and oldest sister left my middle sister and I back in Albania while they went to USA where my dad already had migrated to a continue the fight in offering the family a better life.”
Drita, now a successful model in New York City, still has fresh memory of the exact moment when her childhood changed forever.
“I remember the day I found out my mom wasn’t coming back. I remember sitting in a chair in the middle of the room with her photo in my hands. I screamed and cried for her, I never felt pain the way I felt it that day. That day my My childhood died. My middle sister and I stayed with different family members for the next two years. We were treated very bad, barely fed and neglected. My understanding back then was that our parents had abandoned us and we were never going to be loved again.”
She also remembers the first moment when she arrived at the promised land.
“Days before coming to the USA, my family in Albania would describe the U.S by saying things like “everyone there is rich” “the buildings are covered in gold”. When I came out of JFK in a snowy winter night, I remember thinking “what in the world is this filth”. It’s safe to say, the U.S is nothing like what they had prepared me for.”
Adapting to American society was not easy at all. In an interview for Atlantiku, Drita says that she was constantly bullied by her classmates.
“The culture shock was intense. I started getting bullied since my first days going to school in the Bronx. Kids made fun of me for not knowing English, they made fun of my flag and the way I looked.
As I grew into becoming a teenage it was hard to be a “normal kid”. Growing up in a super strict and traditional Albanian home had its challenges. I was barely allowed to do anything except go to school, work and come home. Looking back now, I know my parents did everything to protect their girls and set my sister and I up for a successful life. But back then, I just wanted to fit in with the rest of my friends. Something I never was really able to do.”
Despite many difficulties, Drita managed to make her parents proud, getting a university degree and starting a good and stable job.
But, she had another dream, and it was about the right time for her to make herself proud.
“I always wanted to model since I was a kid, but my parents had their own dreams of me going to college and getting a promising job. After all they been through, I never blamed them because I knew they just wanted what they thought was best for me.
After graduating college and working my first corporate job, I found myself absolutely miserable. After just a few months I realized no amount of money was worth doing something you don’t love. And while I feared that I’d disappoint my parents, my biggest fear is looking back with regret. So I decided to quit my job to pursue modeling.
It has been two years since Drita Vucinaj started her modeling career by becoming part of several modeling agencies.
Only a few months ago, the beauty image of the Albanian-American became part of the Sephora company, for the well-known cosmetics line “Danessa Myricks Beauty”.
Enjoying success in what she does, model Vucinaj says she has never felt happier and more fulfilled than she is now.
“For me, success includes being spiritually aligned, mentally healthy, fulfilled in my daily work, and having great relationships with the people that mean the most to me like my fiancé and our families.
I’m grateful to honestly say that I rate myself to be the most successful in the point of my life where I currently am.”
A day in the professional life of the Albanian model:
Every day is different and that is one of my favorite parts about my career. Aside from being a model I’m also a content creator. So I’m either traveling from around NYC/NJ area for shoots or I’m at home working on content. Tiktok has helped open me to a big passion in being a content creator. This means I’m posting on my own social media channels about things that I’m interested in, partnering with brands that I love and believe in enough to share and recommend or working with brands on a UGC basis where I create and sell my content for them to use for their media. So in short, every day is different but every day I’m infront of the camera doing what I absolutely love.
Message from Drita Vucinaj:
“It’s nice to learn from people you look up to but remember that their life experience and your life experience can never be the same. The world is changing So much in this very moment. Look ahead, be true to your own spirit and do things your way. “
Drita Vucinaj’s Instagram account:
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