A 22-year-old graduate student from Ventura County will spend the summer advocating for women's rights in the newly independent European country of Kosovo.

Beginning next week, Nicole Slezak, who attended Westlake High School and has a bachelor's degree in communications and political science from UCLA, will work as an intern for the Kosovo Women's Network.

The internship has been organized through The Advocacy Project, a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., and dedicated to promoting human rights and social justice.

Once a part of Yugoslavia, Kosovo is predominantly made up of Albanians and declared independence from Serbia in February, sparking demonstrations in Belgrade.

"I don't feel nervous at all about going because I think Albanians have very close relationships with Americans, and so I feel safe," Slezak said, during a recent visit to her parents' home in Moorpark.

Slezak is half-way through working toward a masters' degree in security studies at Georgetown University and hopes to use her background in communications to advance the rights of women in the region.

Slezak is the daughter of environmental lawyer John Slezak and his wife, Debbie, a court reporter. She has a younger brother, Nick, 20, a biochemistry major at UC San Diego.

"She's always said to me, right from being a little girl, I want to do,' and now she's definitely doing," Debbie Slezak said. "I have my trepidations about some things, but I am sure she will find opportunities and doors will open for her."

It won't be Nicole Slezak's first experience of working abroad. In 2006, she studied in the Czech Republic on a National Security Education Program scholarship.

One person who knows her well isn't at all surprised at her accomplishments and her desire to help others.

Kathleen Murvin was Slezak's guidance counselor for four years at Westlake High School and remains in touch with her and her family.

"She's a really high achiever and a spunky girl," said Murvin, who now works at Sycamore Canyon Middle School in Newbury Park. "She's extremely responsible, extremely self-motivated, and she's just one of those young women who are wise beyond their years."

In 2003, Slezak became the first female winner of The Star Scholar-Athlete Award for her academic and sporting achievements and involvement in her local community.

The Kosovo Women's Network was established in 2000 and represents more than 60 women's nongovernmental organizations in the country. Its mission, as stated on its Web site http://www.womensnetwork.org, is to ensure equal, effective, and active participation of women and girls in Kosovo's political, economic, and social development and advocate for women's human rights.

"I'm drawn to Kosovo, because I'm also interested in refugees and helping refugees, and what happened there during the war is so sad," Slezak said.

She will spend three months in the capital of Prishtina. Her focus, she said, will be to help develop a Women's Peace Coalition, bringing together the Kosovo Women's Network and a similar Serbian group, the Women in Black Network.

She also plans to write a blog about her experiences and the lives of the women she meets. You can read her blog from Kosovo at http://www.advocacynet.org/page/slezak.