By Patrick Murphy

The Mac Weekly had the opportunity to sit down with Igor Stanceric ’12 to discuss everything from club volleyball and First Aid to his distinctive eyewear and birthday extravaganza. Could you talk a little bit about growing up? I’m from Croatia. I was born and raised in a very small town called Vrbovec. I lived most of my life with my mom and younger sister. Family has always been really important for me. From an early age, I did a lot of labor work for my grandparents. They have a little farm, so there was always a lot of seasonal work to be done. How about school? Well, I did half of high school in Croatia and the other half at UWC (United World College) in Norway near Bergen in a village called Flekke. It was literally a village that had a Red Cross rehabilitation center, our school, and then about two miles away was the first gas station and like four houses. That was it! We had a huge mountain on one side and a fjord on the other. It was just beautiful. What was UWC like? There are probably about 30 UWC people at Mac right now, and I know all of them. One of the reasons why I came here was because I knew that I would have that community even if the whole American experience sucked. I had my safety zone. And then things turned around so much that, since freshman year, I haven’t hung out with them at all, and I was friends with all domestic students. I was the silly one who was always asking about references… Like, Super Smash Brothers. What is that?! But back to UWC, that was the life-changing experience that I had. What made you go to UWC in the first place? I just applied, and then there was this series of events that were happening. Nothing happened for about two months, and then when I heard I got a letter from Norway that said I got in, it was crazy. I didn’t have a passport! I didn’t have suitcases! I didn’t have anything! So, we just had to get our shit together and pack up and go! There was no time to think, “Oh, should I do this? Should I not do this? What does it mean? How’s it going to change my life?” It was just, “We gotta do this!” What’s RA life like? Oh my god, so many crazy stories. I’ve been an RA all three years. The most bizarre experience was finding a pile of dog poop in the Dupre elevator. It came out of nowhere! We called facilities and we told them, “You know, guys, we don’t have a fun task for you, but you’re the ones to be called, so that’s what it is.” I know you’re pretty involved with Macalester First Aid. Could you talk a little bit about that? Well, this is its second year as a formal organization. Ethan Forsgren ’11 and I started it, but this is the first year of the branch that is Macalester College Emergency Services. So, the weekend on-call that we do was started last semester. But the year before that, we were doing EMT courses, CPR courses and First Aid courses. I think there’s just over 200 Mac students who have gotten certified through me. You’ve been involved with club volleyball for a while. What’s that experience been like? I would say it’s a family in which you’ll be accepted, and it’s the kind of family you’ve never experienced. We take new people all the time. We love them dearly. We take them all to come party with us. We’re all-inclusive–race, gender, sexuality, intellectual level, everything! As long as you’re down to have fun and dance, you’re good to go. And even if you suck at volleyball, it’s all good. How about your fashion sensibilities? The glasses are definitely something that people define as European. I have people on buses who start to talk to me just because of my glasses. And in my closet, I like my things organized. I don’t think I’m a freak in terms of that, but I like my jeans to be next to each other, t-shirts next to each other, button-ups next to each other, dress-up pants next to each other. You could say I’m well known for excessive wardrobe a bit. I like nice things, but it’s not so much about brand because I can’t really afford a whole lot of brand, but it’s about being strategic–finding things that fit you well and look good. What do you do when you’re not at Mac?’ The last three summers I’ve been teaching at Exploration Summer Schools. I did the senior program at Yale for the last two summers, and I’ll be going there again this summer. It’s been a very good experience–I get to work with people from all over the United States. It’s been really interesting. My first year there, I was the only international person, but last summer there were a ton of international kids. We always have a great time. But the stinky part is we work for 12 hours one day and 17 hours the next day, and you just don’t stop for seven weeks. But there’s something in it that makes it worthwhile, and regardless of how tired you are, you go out, and you still party. It doesn’t matter. What are your post-grad plans? So, right now grad programs are my priority number one. I’m looking at master’s programs in either Human Resources Management or an MBA program focused on Human Resources Management. I think that’s the direction I’m going to go. Through several internships, I realized that I really like working in organizational settings, and working with people, and working at changing things around for the organization. So, working in a corporate environment would be something new, and I think, very exciting. We’ll see. Americans have a hard time finding a job, and it isn’t any easier for me with the whole legal shebang. So, your birthday is this weekend… Any plans? (laughs) My birthday is Sunday, but we’re going to have the celebration Saturday night. I think that’s pretty appropriate. And we’re gonna’ have a big fancy, classy sit-down dinner. And those are very important–fancy, classy, sit-down. We have a catered meal from Everest on Grand. I love food, and I love eating…We’ve rented out the Alumni House, so I’m looking forward to that. There will be snacks and drinks from five to six–little bit of mingling, you know? Because there will be different groups of friends. At six we’re going to have dinner. And then dessert and champagne. And then wine, beer and cocktails. It should be awesome. I really want to emphasize this will be a classy affair. There will be proper plates and proper silverware because I hate all this ‘plasticky’ shit. That’s just no way to go. So, you better come dressed up, mister. What do you hope your legacy at Macalester will be? Wow, that’s a big question. Even thinking about the fact that I might have a legacy is kind of scary for me. I guess if I could choose, I would say three things. First, I hope people remember me as a nice, welcoming, accepting person. Number two, that I was a good RA who cared about his job, and could balance the whole policy versus intent dynamic. And the third one would be Macalester First Aid. I hope that we actually changed something. We have some crazy-ass plans for the future. I think we’re going to be big. refresh –>