From fleeing war to swimming to Oxford, U of C athlete wins Rhodes scholarship

A University of Calgary student-athlete may have tons of accolades on his mantle and to his name now, but even when he and his family were struggling in a new country, he still had plenty.

Fifth-year senior Bogdan Knezevic is one of 11 Canadian students to win a Rhodes scholarship this year, one of the most prestigious academic awards in the world.

Along with his 4.0 GPA in the Faculty of Science’s neuroscience program, Knezevic is also the reigning CIS 200-metre individual medley champion and has been a critical part of the team’s success as one of the top programs in the country.

The latest honour comes after the Academic All-Canadian was recently named the Academic All-American of the Year by Capital One, but he said the Rhodes honour is one of a kind.

“There’s plenty of scholarship opportunities out there to plenty of great universities, but I really wanted to find one that resonated with me and Rhodes did and Oxford really does as well for many reasons,” he said.

But Oxford is a long way from where Knezevic started, when at the young age of three in 1994, his parents sold off what they had in his native Serbia because of the region’s ongoing war and started a new life just outside of downtown Toronto.

“They knew absolutely no one, we did not have a lot of money despite selling everything we had there, my mom spoke some English, my dad spoke very poor English at the time and it wasn’t easy at all and they had a little kid with them,” Knezevic remembers. “I can’t picture a change like that in my life today that would be as difficult as the one that they had.”

Looking up to his parents Jovan and Natasa Pasic-Knezevic, Bogdan first developed the work ethic which has led to his success both in athletics and academics, citing cultural changes as a challenge as well.

Specifically the weather.

“When we came, we had no car and it was -35 C or -36 C that winter which was such a shock and my mom tells me stories of how she would write letters back to Serbia and my grandmother said she would get those letters and she would just start crying,” he said.

But the distance didn’t last for long, as the family would also sponsor Bogdan’s grandparents and uncle to move with them a year later, leading to another inspiration for the young Knezevic, as his uncle would get a scholarship to the University of Toronto.

“It was as big of a sense of joy and pride in our family as it is for my achievement today, I know that was a big uplifting factor for me,” he said.

After going to university in Serbia, Bogdan’s mother was pursuing her PhD in Ontario while working side jobs and his father did the same as he worked on his English.

“Although we didn’t have much, I still had so much to work with and I still had so many role models in my life, to watch these people around me, making the most of a country and that’s why we left Serbia and came to Canada, because Canada is the country where you can do that,” he said.

While his work ethic manifested through his parents’ example, his passion for medicine was sparked by yet another challenge.

When Bogdan was six, his parents were ready to welcome their second child after a few years of getting accustomed to Canadian life.

On a hospital visit hoping for good news, they were dealt a gut-wrenching blow.

“My mom had leukemia,” Knezevic said. “That’s the first real memory I have of something that really profoundly impacted me, I remember the day that she told us, it was just a big ordeal for us to go through.”

Natasa left her doctoral studies for treatment and that’s when Bogdan realized he wanted to work in medicine.

“I was really young at the time, so obviously I couldn’t really help and I know when they were looking for bone marrow donors for her, I was so eager to be hopefully compatible for her and I unfortunately wasn’t,” he said. “To see how strong my mom has been throughout all of that and how successful she was in fighting that off, it had a huge influence.”

After successful treatment, she eventually went into the education field, while Jovan worked his way to opening a financial advising company and his grandparents learned English.

“To see how much we were able to make the most from Canada and start from ground zero and work our way up, it was always a profound part of me as an individual and has shaped me a lot,” he said.

Bogdan then started swimming at age nine and flourished both in and out of the pool and had to decide whether to stay in Canada or go to the United States for university.

Because of his Canadian bond, he decided staying north of the border was best and had to choose between the powerhouses of the University of Calgary or the University of British Columbia.

It turned out to be an academic edge that pushed him onto a U of C block, as the neuroscience program was just beginning, as well as strong meetings with the Calgary coaches with not only him, but his parents as well.

“It became a really easy choice at that point,” he said.

Five years, multiple team and individual championships and academic achievements later, Bogdan waited anxiously on Saturday after a morning interview to see if he would become a Rhodes scholar.

It wasn’t until 8 p.m. when he got the call.

“The way they worded it and went about starting the conversation made me convinced that for sure I hadn’t gotten the scholarship, they were brushing me up for bad news, they were telling me how this year was very difficult and all the applicants were great,” he said, thinking he would not be one of the three accepted applicants from the prairie provinces.

That’s when they told him he was one of the accepted applicants.

“I just burst out and said you have to start with that, you can’t just leave me through this emotional rollercoaster right now,” he said with a chuckle. “I was thrilled and I’m still in a bit of shock.”

Shock was also what his parents were in when he told them on Skype.

“They burst out crying and they couldn’t believe it for a long time,” he said. “When they finally calmed down, it was great to talk to them and hear my mom say that the ultimate happiness and the ultimate dream that she could come to realize is that I’m able to do this and that her work and my dad’s work and my grandparents and uncle’s work has paid off to pave the way for me.”

Along with his parents, Knezevic also credits his support at the university, including the faculty, his coaches, teammates and the rest of the athletic department for helping balance his workload in the water and in the classroom.

“It’s really been a testament to the whole team that’s behind me, it’s not by any means a solo effort on my part and this could’ve been a much, much, much more difficult journey if it wasn’t for all those people,” he said, as the university congratulated him on the accolade.

“This is a phenomenal accomplishment and I would like to personally congratulate Bogdan for this outstanding recognition of all his hard work, dedication and perseverance,” said President Elizabeth Cannon in a statement.

Although his swimming career at Calgary is concluding, the Serbian national team member plans to continue the sport while at Oxford and will train for the 2016 Olympics.

Based on his past, it’s probably best not to doubt him.

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