Being here, writing this
post on day One of Iona College’s retreat to Oświęcim, Poland is one that I am
truly honored to be a part of and thrilled for this next week to come.
Hi, my name is James
Smith, and to give a little background about myself, I’m from Orange, CT,
freshman, marketing major. This trip will be the first time i've been out of the
country, and in terms religiously I’m Polish National Catholic (PNCC)
One of the biggest
reasons why I did this trip is because of my Polish Background. I’m only a
quarter Polish, but, it’s without a doubt my cultural side that I identify with
the most. I grew up in a Polish Church, celebrate some of the traditions and
eat a good amount of the food. I’m very proud of my Polish heritage and try to
learn and understand where I came from.
In a way i've always
wanted to come back to the “homeland” and doing this makes me the first person
in my family who’s come back to Poland. In a way this class and trip was a big
reason for me coming to Iona College, because in the large amount of colleges I
applied to, Iona was the only one that had a trip to Poland.
Within the context of the
trip, this isn't the type of trip where it’s a return to the homeland vacation thing. This trip means an astronomical amount in terms of learning and understanding
the relations between Jewish and Christian people, but also at the same time
the amount of pain and hardship a specific people went through. With events
also dealing with circumstances between people of my past interacting with
Jewish population not just during the Holocaust but before it and after it as
well, is a huge intellectual part of the process that I’m very eager to learn
more and more about.
This trip will take a toll
on more levels emotionally and physically that I may have ever encountered in
my whole life, but I know this class would be a challenge especially
emotionally and intellectually. I think this class will definitely be a
challenge well taken by me and my fellow Ionians who will especially be, ready
as we can for this trip and it will definitely be a trip that I will never
forget on a numerous amount of levels.
I’m very excited for the
next week and can’t wait to write about it
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