Kelsey: The Beginning

Poland group Spring 2012 with Dr. Jolanta Ambrosewicz-Jacobs and Dr. Elena Procario-Foley

Fr. David DeSimone asking Dr. Jolanta Ambrosewicz-Jacobs a question during Q&A

Hello! My name is Kelsey and I’m a Junior, studying Criminal Justice at Iona College. The minute I heard about the Poland study abroad program my freshman year, it had caught my attention. My Grandmother on my Mom’s side was actually born in Poland, and in 1929, when she was only 7 years old she moved to America. Unfortunately, when I was 9 years old, my Grandma had a stroke, paralyzing half her body and causing her to lose her ability to talk. For several years she lived with us, until I was in high school when she passed away. My senior year of high school my family was invited to Poland to attend a wedding for a cousin and get to meet relatives of ours that still lived there. I was able to gain a better perspective of where my Grandma grew up. I had the chance to go for 3 days and I actually stayed in Krakow. When I was on my way to our relative’s house I couldn’t help but notice the smoke towers in the distance and I realized how close they were to Auschwitz. I didn’t have enough time to visit Auschwitz,then so when I found out about the study abroad Poland program, it was the perfect opportunity for me to go back and get to learn about the Holocaust and Poland as well. I wasn’t able to go my sophomore year because I spent the semester studying abroad in Ireland but this year I finally have my chance to go and I couldn’t be more excited. I’m looking forward to learning more about what life was like for Poles living during the time and how it has impacted them. I’m hoping to have a better understanding of the Jewish-Christian relationship, before and after the Holocaust. Also, since my major is criminal justice, I will be interested in learning about the impact of genocide and the crimes that took place in order to learn from the past to help prevent something as horrible as the Holocaust, from happening again in the future. An excellent lecture tonight by Dr. Jolanta Ambroseqicz-Jacobs, from Poland, on “The Holocaust and Coming to Terms with the Past in Post-Communist-Poland” has opened my eyes to the many things I will be learning about this coming week. I will post again when I’m in Poland...Dobranoc :)