Teo Dragic (C ‘25) sits cross–legged on her bed, the walls surrounding us plastered with memories from her world. From mosaics of group photos, concert posters, playbills, a Fleabag script, and Bloomers promo, the art tells a vibrant story. Teo’s dedication to health, community, education, and performing arts leaves one to wonder how she balances everything. As we talk about the diverse communities she inhabits, she effortlessly shifts between topics, from urban outreach to artistic expression, reflecting the fluidity with which she navigates the world, all while making room for herself and others.
Name: Teo Dragic
Hometown: Queens, N.Y.
Major: Health and societies
Activities: Science Olympiad at the University of Pennsylvania, Director of business for Bloomers Comedy, social chair of Carriage Senior Society, member of Osiris Senior Society, Senior Mentor for the Turner ESG Fellows program, associate at Fund for Health, research for Penn Health Equity center.
I know you are from New York, but could you tell us more about your background?
I feel very strongly connected to being from Queens. My parents immigrated here from Serbia, and we lived in a neighborhood surrounded by a lot of Eastern European immigrants. I think that that was very important to my upbringing. It made me feel very connected with my culture from a very young age.
I actually haven’t gone to Serbia since 2018, but we used to go every summer. My entire family lives in Serbia or Germany. I’m not German, but a lot of my family immigrated to Germany for work purposes. I have very good contact with my family in Serbia, but I haven’t gone back since my grandmother started flying in to visit us—instead of us flying to Serbia. I really, really want to go back post–grad and visit and see all my family. I was able to go to Germany this summer to see my grandfather, and then some people flew in from Serbia to also see me, my dad, my brother, which was awesome. I do feel very, very connected to being Serbian. That’s been a huge part of my upbringing.
What can you tell me about some of the communities you are involved in?
Whether it be extracurricular activities or my friends, I think that at its core, [everything is] all driven by community. [Community] is insanely important to me. I hope that my impact will have been to help other people have a good day or enjoy their Penn experience.
Anything that I do, even coursework or my thesis, it’s all shaped by interactions I’ve had within the Philly community and the spaces that I’ve engaged with. For example, my thesis on safe injection sites: I grew up seeing a lot of drug overdoses, and I’ve worked with Fund for Health (the Environmental, Social and Governance Initiative with Wharton and Penn Medicine) and Prevention Point Philly with safe injection sites. And I can see the benefits they’ve had on the community. I’m very happy that I’m here. Being from a big city, I have always viewed Philly as such a tight–knit community. I feel like everything that I’ve done has been driven by the larger purpose of building community, being involved with my community, and learning about different communities that I’m in. I want to be remembered for having had an impact, forming community here, and engaging with the Philly community and my friends.
Would you say that you are a planner, more spontaneous, or both?
I will say yes to anything and everything, and then realize that shit’s not gonna align in my schedule. But I will still try to make it happen. Today, I’m going to the WizChord a capella show, and tomorrow, my roommates are running the marathon. So, to carb–load, they're having a pasta making party. After the WizChord show, I’m gonna run back here and make pasta and celebrate my roommates. Then I have friends’ birthdays later in the evening. It’s a lot of running back and forth. It might just be FOMO, but I love being around people, and I love being around my friends, and I love meeting new people, and for that reason, I will say yes to everything. I like to show up and be there for people, see my friends, be proud of them, and celebrate them. In a lot of ways, a lot of things that I say yes to, spontaneity–wise, are to be there for other people and be there with my friends. They’re insanely talented. Things will come up like that throughout my week, and I will just be like, “yeah, I want to be there, and I want to show up.”
What was your biggest adventure here at Penn?
Swalloween is the first thing that comes to my mind. I woke up at 7 a.m. that day and didn’t go back home until 7 a.m. the next morning. The day started with me running to Fishtown to go to Thunderbird Salvage to get more dolls for the house, because the theme of Swalloween this year was Dollhouse. Then I was setting everything up from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. until we realized that we did not have enough props for the basement. So then me and my awesome friend, Laura—she’s our treasurer—ran into Center City, and we couldn’t find any Ubers back so we waited for a SEPTA, and then the SEPTA wasn’t coming, but as we were leaving, suddenly it came. We were able to get back to Herzog, where [Swalloween] was hosted, and then it was nonstop from that moment forward: figuring out the DJ, moving vans, driving around. I picked up giant animatronics two blocks down from Herzog, and I probably looked insane lugging around a giant skeleton to set up at the entrance. Once it started, seeing everything unfold and seeing what my friends and I worked so hard to plan made me so proud. Just hearing that so many people had such a good time made me really happy. I know that it’s not the craziest adventure, but in my head, that day never ended. It seemed so long in retrospect. Searching for different things, trying to pull everything together, and finally succeeding made it a massive day. A lot of love went into it.
Could you tell us about SOUP?
I joined Science Olympiad in my freshman year of high school. I loved it. It was where I met some of my best friends from high school, and when I came to Penn, I wanted to continue doing that. SOUP was my community in high school, and I wanted that similar community going forward. I’m very grateful for the people I met through SOUP.
SOUP is a competition for middle schoolers and high schoolers, and it’s run internationally. There are roughly 23 different events in different branches of science that you can compete in. I did a lot of the public–style events. Penn runs one of the largest invitationals in the country for high schoolers. We write the tests and plan the entire day, and in February, students from across the country come to compete.
Something that I’m particularly proud of is the fact that we’ve started working with Penn Medicine for an urban outreach program to help middle schoolers. I was president of the program last year with my good friend Aurora, and this year I’ve been doing urban outreach. We get grants from Penn to do science mentorship and start Science Olympiad programs in middle schools in Philly. We also just work to get more funding so that we can host Philly high schools who don’t have to pay an entrance fee at the Penn Invitational. A policy that my old co–President Aurora and I put in place was for there to be a minimum of slots reserved for Philadelphia high schools. I think it helps so many people gain experience and confidence. It helps high schoolers get more excited about science and STEM fields and even public health. We’ve gotten them to tour labs at Penn Med and the School of Engineering and Applied Science. There’s a lot that goes into SOUP, and I really like it because other invitationals don’t do urban outreach programs. I care a lot about education. My mom’s a public school teacher. I feel very strongly about having gone to public schools in New York. I learned a lot at Penn in my health and societies classes about how education and health are intertwined. Thus SOUP, going beyond just running the invitational, was probably the most fulfilling part for me.
Most meaningful experience here at Penn?
Bloomers, for sure. I, like a lot of people, came to Penn with a pre–professional mindset. I wanted to go to law school. I was very interested in public health—still am—but throughout high school and middle school, with friends at home, I would just like, record videos and make short films. They were awful, but I had this interest in film, production, and entertainment, which is part of the reason why I joined Bloomers.
It all started when I went to Bloomers and Mask and Wig’s free show in my freshman year, and there was just something that felt like it clicked. I could see myself in a group like that. I hadn’t experienced that feeling before in other organizations that I had been a part of, up until college. I know that my parents have my best interests at heart. They told me to do X, Y, Z and get a job, and they were part of the reason why I didn’t want to disappoint anyone by choosing a nonconventional route. But I auditioned for Bloomers, and I’ve been working on video and graphic design. We work very closely with the writing team to make promo material. I just have never had something completely alter what I want to do. I think that Bloomers was the most important community to me at Penn. It encouraged me to want to pursue entertainment. I’m really interested in directing and film in general, and I think that without Bloomers I would not have been able to definitively say that. The people there are some of my best friends in the world. Being surrounded by such creative, awesome, funny people—I feel as though it is a second home for me. It’s the best decision I made here. I can’t emphasize enough how much I love it. I love Bloomers—hands down. If you look at the wall, these are all the Bloomers posters.
[“I’m sure I saw this one while waiting for the elevator,” I say, pointing at a poster on her wall.]
Well, it was probably me that put it up.
What has been your biggest takeaway, or a lesson that took time revealing itself for you while at Penn?
The people that you surround yourself with are the most important thing you get out of Penn. I don’t know what I would do without my friends. They are a key part of my life, and they have brought me so much joy. I get to learn from really cool people and see how talented and amazing they are in everything they do. I carry so much of that within me, and I’ve really been shaped by everyone who’s in my life now. People are very important to me.
Last Sunday, I was supposed to work on 20 pages of my thesis due on Tuesday, and I hadn’t written anything. It was my really good friend’s birthday and instead of buying a cake, another friend and I baked him a carrot cake. I’m happy that my Sunday was spent doing something like that. Over these four years, I’ve learned to prioritize people. Academics are obviously important—we’re here to get a degree—but before, I’d never put friends as high up as I do now. I think that I’m so much better for it.
What is your next stop, and what do you envision for yourself in the future?
I want to be either in New York or Los Angeles working on film directing. I don’t know in what form, but I really love comedy. My roommate wants to do medical documentary work. She’s also an HSOC major, so that’s something that we’ve talked about extensively—working on projects together. I really want to pursue that.
Lightning Round
Favorite show: Fleabag
A song you have on repeat: “Eusexua” by FKA Twigs
Your favorite artist: Lorde
Favorite place to eat: Clark Park
Hidden gem in Philadelphia: Machine Shop in South Philly
Favorite board game: Monopoly
If you were a dish: Serbian Crepe
There are two types of people at Penn ... people who live at WilCaf and people who don’t.
And you are? People who live at WilCaf.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
