Turning Tragedy into Growth
How a workplace injury shaped a Georgia Tech student's life mission.
Going to college was a step Angela Juric never questioned. Poised to graduate high school as salutatorian, she was certain to end up at a top university. However, her family was living on federal aid due to a devastating workplace accident, which presented a major financial challenge to her dreams.
Tragedy and Responsibility
When Angela was 11, her father, Zdravko, was hit by a front loader while on the job. Describing the traumatic incident, Angela says, “Looking back on it, I didn’t realize the gravity of the situation because I was so young. We were told he tried to get up after being hit, but his coworkers wouldn’t let him. They called the ambulance and took him to Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta. That's when one of his co-workers came to our house and told me and my mom that he had gotten into an accident.” With a crushed pelvis, Zdravko underwent an 11-hour, life-saving surgery after which he was transferred to the Shepherd Center to recover and learn how to walk again.
As both of her parents are Croatian (previously Yugoslavian) immigrants who do not speak English fluently, Angela had to take on a more mature role in her family, acting as a translator during Zdravko’s recovery. Angela helped translate everything from documents and bills for her mother to the doctors and nurses caring for her father.
Despite the trauma of his accident, Zdravko has regained much of his independence, is back to a “new normal,” and is aware of the impact his accident has had on Angela’s educational experience.
“It’s weird how life works sometimes,” she says. "He came from a foreign country and got this construction job to help support his family, which would end up changing his life with the accident. But eventually, I was able to get this [Kids' Chance] scholarship and go to college because of it. So, that domino effect, it really does exist.”
Kids' Chance Scholarship
While researching her financial aid options, Angela discovered Kids’ Chance of Georgia, an organization that provides educational scholarships to the children of Georgia workers who have been seriously or fatally injured on the job. After applying for and receiving a scholarship, she began saving the monthly stipends that high school recipients receive for future college expenses — a decision that ultimately helped her attend Georgia Tech.
Founded in 1988, Kids’ Chance of Georgia was the first organization of its kind in the nation, and has been a model for Kids’ Chance charities in 49 other states as well as the national organization. Kids’ Chance organizations strive to offer need-based scholarships to the families of seriously injured workers and are supported by occupational safety and health programs like Georgia Tech OSHA Training Institute Education Center, which has contributed a full program certificate to the Kids' Chance of Georgia silent auction for years.
Since its inception, the program has provided over 700 scholarships, raised almost $7 million, and established memorial scholarships and endowment funds for those in need. In the 2024-2025 academic year, Kids’ Chance of Georgia awarded approximately $125,000 in scholarship funding across 62 scholarships — including the one Angela receives.
Becoming the Resource They Needed
Now, as a first-generation college student, Angela is a junior at Georgia Tech. In addition to other financial aid she receives, the Kids’ Chance scholarship helped her make this possible. “It’s been very helpful being able to afford to live on campus; it's such a fun experience. I don't think I would have the same college experience without it because I've been able to meet so many great people and be surrounded by excellence in Atlanta and Georgia Tech,” she raves.
Majoring in biology with a minor in Spanish, Angela hopes to become a physician's assistant or an anesthesiologist assistant and is currently working as a nurse assistant. In middle school, Angela discovered she had an aptitude for learning Spanish and attributes this to the fact that she already speaks Croatian: “When you know more than one language, it’s easier to learn another.”
During the summer of 2025, she attended a study abroad trip to Costa Rica, where she studied epigenetics, cancer biotechnology, and bioethics. Tying her major and minor together, Angela strives to be fluent in Spanish as a healthcare professional, knowing that patients feel more relaxed when they can speak their native language.
“I've seen firsthand how hard it can be being sick, going to the hospital, and not knowing the language,” she says. “I want to become a medical professional who can communicate with patients in their native language because it's scary not knowing what's happening to you or what doctors or nurses are saying. I would love to be a kind of beacon of peace for those patients.”
Her Father's Pride
Angela has, without a doubt, made her father proud, taking a life-altering tragedy and all of its lessons and turning it into something positive.
“My father comes from an Eastern European country. He lived a very rural village life, and didn't get a college education in his country. I've told him about the scholarship, and he thinks it's great," she says. "I think he's very proud of where I am, that I'm able to go to school, that I'm able to navigate it, and be able to have this experience.”
Angela's journey — her determination and strength — embodies the Georgia Tech spirit. As she continues her education with support from Kids' Chance, she is turning her family's story into an example of resilience, compassion, and success.
Don’t Get Scared by Your Smart Devices
