| My name is Urszula Solarz. Despite the fact that I don’t live in Poland, doesn’t mean that I don’t know or don't care about my homeland. It’s quite the opposite! Though, I grew up in New York City and attend 9th grade at Bard High School Early College, where I learn and speak English, I’ve always been fostered by the caring Polish community around me and guided by my parents to be proud of my Polish ethnicity.
But, when I was little and didn’t yet understand what the word Ojczyzna meant, I used to think that being Polish was the biggest burden that could have been ever placed on my back. When I was at the doctor’s office, the library or at school, nobody could correctly pronounce my full name because there were too many “sz” and “rz” syllables, as in a typical Polish name. Whenever I opened my lunchbox, many faces stared at me, not recognizing the unfamiliar smells of a traditional Polish dinner. When I had an assignment to describe a custom from where I was from, I unsuccessfully talked about my imieniny and once again received stares.
I wanted to be named something American; have a last name like Smith or Walker! I wanted to open my lunch box and take out a peanut butter and jelly sandwich! I wanted to say that I had a Fourth of July party in my backyard! Oh, how mistaken I was for wanting such things. Being little, I hadn’t known a lot of facts and things about Poland, that I now can’t live without. I learned that being unique was a gift, not a burden!
I proudly represent my Ojczyzna today and go to Polish school on Saturday, but don’t hesitate to speak out when my English teachers say that Poland should be only known for being a little potato plant country near Russia, who lost WWII and was invaded by Germany. It’s quite great to see their faces when I tell of all of Poland’s achievements and how our people contributed to the development of technology, medicine, the arts and even the United States’s freedom!
To add to that, I visit many Polish memorials and monuments in New England and tour Poland over during my summers spent there. Though, I haven’t yet been to Australia and unfortunately probably won’t go there anytime soon, I would love to visit Mount Kosciuszko to see how far news of Polish heroes has spread. Our continued work as Polonia has to maintain different branches of culture, whether by breaking the awful Polish stereotype or by teaching of influential Poles, like Tadeusz Kosciuszko.
Urszula Maria Solarz
PS. I’m also getting ready for the Pulaski Day Parade in October. This year, the spotlight will be shared as the 200th Aniversary of Kosciuszko’s death is also being celebrated here in NYC. This year’s parade theme is Thaddeus Kosciuszko – Hero of Two Nations.
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