The article discusses the author's encounters with Ramadan Ilazi, an ethnic Albanian Kosovar the author first encounter in a Kosovo refugee camp in 1999. Ilazi was 14 years old when the author first met him, and a smart, industrious child that served as his guide and translator. The author discusses meeting with Ilazi again in 2007 as Kosovo is poised for independence from Serbia. The author credits Ilarzi with being the kind of citizen that will help lead Kosovo in the future.