Rasa was born in Ukraine in a poor family. She moved to the states with her family when she was 10. Her family lives in South Side and she studied Social Sciences at University of Pittsburgh. To support her family, she had to leave the school at her second year to work. She has worked as a waitress at Tower Diner in downtown. Now she had saved enough money to continue her study, but still has to work part-time. She takes buses a lot to go to the school from South Side and to work. Her boss is very strict about the time, so she does not want to be late to work, and to school also.