Description of the integration initiative implemented
Good economic and social background (parental support and high education achieved in home country prior to migration); very strong motivation to move abroad, accompanied by personal circumstances when meeting life partner from another country; the evolution is seen as a gradual process with many ups and downs, recognizing extreme importance of parental and partner support, as well as own endeavors and constant perseverance; critical of the notion of "identity" and pointing to its fluidity - especially when talking about her child as gen-Z post-national multi-sited belonging; rather than personal gender role transformations, addressing Slovenia's gender roles as comparatively more progressive than in Serbia, where patriarchy is still of an older type, commenting on parenting as sharing the burden among partners in Slovenia a lot more; in terms of resources (institutional, community, family and personal resources are described), since her integration was purposefully tackled as "a project" and thus all available resources thoroughly researched and drawn on whenever possible.

Personal story
The woman interviewed comes Belgrade (Serbia) and left her country due to the political, economic and social situation. She met her future husband in Belgrade and they started a long-distance relationship. They soon started talking about various possibilities that would enable them to keep the relationship and ease the difficulties and bureaucratic obstacles. She wanted to pursue postgraduate university studies and optimal work development. They decided to get married because as a spouse of a Slovenian national she would gain certain benefits in terms of border crossing and legal stay.
Soon afterwards she was accepted on a postgrad programme in Budapest (Hungary) and they decided to again conduct their relationship in a cross-border fashion. Because of her husband’s steady job, it was not optimal for him to move. During her one year studying in Budapest she became pregnant and gave birth. After completing her Masters’ degree, she came (back) to Slovenia where they now live as a family. She is in regular contact with her parents in Belgrade and her child in this way maintains her dual identity and language skills also in Serbian.
Since then, she has done really well. From precarious jobs in academic environment she has managed to not only survive but prosper and actually managed to retain working in her field of interest and expertise. She finished her doctorate and is now a part of the academic circles in Slovenia, as well as internationally.
She talked a lot about how her parents had helped her along the way, giving her money to find the best language tutor so she could learn Slovenian – which she quickly learned would be an asset and a necessity to integrate in Slovenia (despite her fluency in English). She also used her networking skills to purposefully approach people wherever and whenever she could to strike conversations that could potentially work in her benefit; be it to gather relevant information regarding how and where to look for scholarships, funding, job opportunities, projects, mentors … That is why she herself speaks of integration being a personal project for her. She says she quickly realized that she would need to be resilient and resourceful and she was in fact eventually very successful in mastering the invisible and informal ways of how the academic world works, with a particular emphasis on the Slovenian context.
Her husband and his family and social networks were of great help as well, particularly in terms of welcoming and supportive environment for her, especially early upon her migration.
Her child having a father who is a native Slovenian and lots of support from extended family, friends and the educational system in Slovenia was fully integrated from the beginning, having also been born in Slovenia.
They all maintain contacts with her family in Serbia. In addition, she maintains networks with migrants from her country in Slovenia, which helps her maintain her cultural identity.
She highlighted the difference in gender roles, indicating that in Serbia society is still more patriarchal than in Slovenia, and that her gender role in Slovenia is different than what might have been had she stayed in Serbia; she mentions men in Slovenia often take care of their children as well as being involved in house chores, something that in Serbia did not usually happen.
She intends to stay and live in Slovenia until she retires, and then possibly somewhere else entirely.

Analysis of the initiative and individual story
The main initiatives to improve integration have been:
LEGAL SCOPE:
- To be able to regulate her administrative situation (through marriage).
RESOURCES AND SUPPORTS
- Social entities are key in orientation, information and networking.
- Good experiences with certain public entities, especially university policies on access to higher education and health services access and use (birth, maternity leave)
NETWORKS AND PARTICIPATION
- Family and informal networks, which facilitated her arrival and later participation (financial help from her parents).
- Informal networks with other migrants facilitate her emotional wellbeing.
CULTURAL IDENTITY
- Maintaining her and her child's cultural identity through contact with relatives (parents in Serbia) and migrants from the same cultural context who live in Slovenia.
- Also, very international in her own and her child's upbringing, international networks of friends and coworkers.
- At the same time, incorporation into their lives of the cultural guidelines of the host society, valuing the richness that diversity brings.
RESILIENCE STRATEGIES
- Her ability to face life situations through new strategies of adaptation, without clinging to her previous life.
- Valuing the resources available in the host society and using them to obtain benefits.
- Very determined to succeed. A personal trait aided by very supportive family and life partner.

Results and Impact
This migratory process has had an important impact on the life of our protagonist. The interviewed woman told us that her life has qualitatively improved since she has finally landed a job in academia and is professionally doing what is her interest and what she strived to achieve. Gaining her doctorate was a great personal success, especially as a migrant. She did struggle and it took her some time to achieve all this, so looking back she sees her path as one of purpose and determination to succeed. She sees Slovenia as a country with more opportunities for her and for her child.