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Albania to Albany — A Student’s Journey
Erion Kacani ’09, Liberal Arts
Erion Kacani was born in Albania. So how did
he end up in Albany? And at Maria College?
Erion was born during the domination of communism in Albania, and lived under one of its most ruthless dictators, Enver Hoxha. He remembers the poverty and struggle, and how his family lived without water or electricity. They decided to flee, and when Erion was 11, moved to Greece. There, he was introduced to racism, along with abuse from the Greek society, where Albanian immigrants were afraid to speak their own language knowing they would get deported. After one year, the family moved back to Albania with the hope of living a normal life and, shortly thereafter, the country went into a depression that caused a civil war. Again, the family had to make another tough choice, and left Albania to come to the United States, settling in New York City. Erion has been in this country ever since.
During his teenage years in New York, Erion first discovered his passion for hip hop music and for writing poetry. He began writing songs in two languages: Albanian and English. As his interest in music as well as his talent grew, so did his list of accomplishments. He has written songs for Donnie Clang of “Making the Band” fame (Bad Boy Records) and has worked with Eren Cannata (Brown Dog Records). He has also collaborated with a young talent from Albania, Miri, with whom he recorded a duet entitled “Hajde” (Come). The single music video
had airplay on a number of Albanian stations.
At the same time, Erion began to think about college, and heard about Maria from friends. “I heard that it was a great college for me to start and I loved it,” he said. “My major was Nursing, but I ended up finishing with a Liberal Arts degree. My time at Maria helped me be more organized and professional. Also, from the classes I took, I got to use a lot for my lyrics and also my books.” He completed his Liberal Arts degree and moved back to New York City to pursue
the music business.
As part of his degree, Erion was required to take classes in a broad range of subject areas, in keeping with Maria’s commitment to the value of a liberal arts education. He said that many of his classes, particularly those in religious studies, touched his life deeply, and that he has the highest regard for the faculty at Maria. “To be honest, everyone in that school has been great…every teacher I have had classes with…even teachers I never took classes with,” he remembered. “They were respectful, always helpful and always said hello to the students in the hallways. Being a foreigner, although I do write music, when working research papers, punctuation and grammar is a must, and Dr. Lisa Tobin was always there to help. Sister Joan Mary Hartigan has been a great help from the beginning to the end, and even though I did fail one of her classes—not because I wasn’t studying but because I kept going late for class—she taught me to be professional, and I took her class again and passed it. She taught me to take my failures as victories and not as a negative achievement.”
As Erion builds his future, with his experience at Maria College behind him and a part of him, he sums up his perspective on life this way: “While we live through rough times now and then, we should always make the best of it. Life is not a perfect smile, but we should try, through music and poetry, to make the best out of what we’re dealt.”
Posted in Student Profiles
