Announcing 2022/2023 Lapinski Scholarship Winners: Victoria Chowaniak and Julia Paciorek

Polish language

Each year, the UW–Madison Polish Studies Program announces the recipients of the Lapinski scholarship, received as a generous endowment from the will of Mrs. Leona Lapinski Leute. In the academic year 2022/2023, the Lapinski awards went to Victoria Chowaniak from Elmwood Park, Illinois, and Julia Paciorek, from Houston, Texas. Congratulations, Victoria and Julia! Gratulacje!

The Lapinski fund provides financial support for UW undergraduate and graduate students studying the Polish language, literature, and culture. In its inaugural year, the Lapinski fund awarded students with some $25,000 in scholarship money. Since then, the funds have continued to support UW students in Polish studies to this day. The annual application deadline for the Lapinski scholarship is March 1 (or the first Monday after that). The funds are awarded in the spring for the whole upcoming academic year.

» Learn more about the Lapinski scholarship and application requirements here

To celebrate their achievement with the larger UW–Madison community, we asked Victoria and Julia to tell us more about themselves. Below, we present their profiles, including their initial interest in the Polish language and culture, career plans, and advice for anyone wanting to start learning all things Polish.

 

Victoria Chowaniak

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Victoria Chowaniak, 2022/2023 Lapinski Scholarship Awardee

 

Tell us about yourself.

I am a Biology major with a certificate in Global Health. I am a first-generation college student. My mother and father were both born in Poland, and I am the first member of my family to be born in the United States. Polish is my first language, and I grew up in a heavily Polish suburb of Chicago. I enjoy working out, hiking, traveling, cooking, and spending time with friends.

Tell us about the Polish courses you have taken at UW-Madison.

I took Fifth-Semester Polish after placing into it to fulfill my language requirement, I had no idea I would receive credit for the previous semesters of Polish. what an amazing surprise! Since I am a native speaker, the grammar and spelling aspects are what I struggled with the most and I found it interesting to be learning with such a diverse group of individuals. I am currently taking Prof. Wodzyński’s History and Ethics in Film: Polish Cinema, a course I am really enjoying thus far. I have never taken a Polish course outside of language and it is so interesting to learn about Polish culture outside of the realm I have only ever experienced through years of Polish school.

 

I look forward to going to PSA [Polish Student Association] every time, I have been able to meet so many amazing people and build so many relationships. It feels like a sense of home being surrounded by so many people of the same culture.

 

Tell us about your engagement with all things Polish at UW-Madison and outside of it.

I attended the Tadeusz Kościuszko Polish School until my junior year of high school. Last year, I joined the Polish Student Association (PSA) at UW-Madison and am now on the board as the secretary for the club. I look forward to going to PSA every time, I have been able to meet so many amazing people and build so many relationships. It feels like a sense of home being surrounded by so many people of the same culture. I truly love it and am so glad to be a part of this amazing group.

Any plans to major in Polish, or get a certificate in Polish and Slavic studies?

At this point in my college experience, I am considering getting a certificate in Polish as well. The Lapinski scholarship is what is prompting me to make this decision. By being taken out of my comfort zone with my current Polish class, I realize how much I enjoy learning about topics that relate to my culture. I am so close to the certificate so I feel as though I might as well keep going!

» Take Polish courses at UW-Madison and earn a certificate in Slavic Studies

 

I even try to share my culture with my friends by taking them to Polish dances, having them try traditional Polish food, and listening to music with me.

 

Tell us why the Polish language and culture are worth studying.

Being apart from home where so many of my closest friends share the same culture as me, I felt a sense of emptiness, so I have learned the importance of my culture. Having a community and connection to my culture is something I value immensely. I even try to share my culture with my friends by taking them to Polish dances, having them try traditional Polish food, and listening to music with me. This brings me so much joy to show my friends how I grew up and teach them a thing or two about Polish culture.

 

Julia Paciorek

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Julia Paciorek, 2022/2023 Lapinski Scholarship Awardee

 

Tell us about yourself.

I am a dual national (Poland, United States) and a triple major in Computer Science, Data Science, and Polish. I have moved around frequently, but my current hometown is Houston, TX. Both of my parents come from Poland, my mother is from Ustka on the Baltic Sea coast and my dad is from Kielce. I am a Polish folk artist that mostly works in colored pencil portraits as well as digital prints, I specialize in the Kashubian/Kraków style. I love to go on hikes with my two French bulldogs (who aren’t so French, but rather have Polish passports) as well as create and play videogames, with my favorite being the Witcher series based on bestselling books by Andrzej Sapkowski and Skyrim.

 

I am very impressed with the Polish classes at UW-Madison. I think they are very challenging, which makes them more fun for me.

» Search for all Polish language, literature, and culture courses at UW-Madison

 

Tell us about the Polish courses you have taken at UW-Madison.

I took Polish because I am very proud of my heritage and my country, and I think it is a perfect opportunity to strengthen my skills in Polish. My love for my country as well as my love for my family fuels my need to take these classes. I am very family-oriented and could not imagine a world where I am not speaking Polish actively. I am very impressed with the Polish classes at UW-Madison. I think they are very challenging, which makes them more fun for me.

Tell us about your engagement with all things Polish at UW-Madison and outside of it.

I am a member of the Polish Heritage Club of Madison, Wisconsin, I also went to the Polish school Ogniwo in Morrisville, PA for 11 years of my life. I am also an active member of “Polki w Houston” and I am a member of “Polanki” in Milwaukee.

Tell us about your studies, career plans, and how Polish courses tie into that.

I am majoring in Polish studies, and I am interested in becoming a U.S. foreign officer who actively looks for dual-language speakers as well as culturally adaptable people. On top of this, I have interned at the Polish Chamber of Commerce, where I worked on their website as a software engineering intern. In this internship, I met high-ranking Polish officials in Washington, D.C., and my Polish studies were very handy for this. I could communicate and speak with them without a problem. In general, Polish is very useful to me because it allows me to easily connect with other people and network, which is key to success in any workplace. I also don’t like to stay in one place, and, in the future, I hope to move around quite often, so having a Polish background that, consequently, makes me more adaptable to other cultures and environments, is key.

 

A lot of people, including myself, have noticed that fewer and fewer people with Polish parents speak Polish. To those people, I urge you to learn about your heritage. You will not realize how precious it is until it is gone.

» Polish-American Author: “I never made an attempt to maintain my Polish”

 

Tell us why the Polish language and culture are worth studying.

It is worth studying Polish if you are passionate about it, as it is with everything. For me, Polish has become a very important asset. A lot of people, including myself, have noticed that fewer and fewer people with Polish parents speak Polish. To those people, I urge you to learn about your heritage. You will not realize how precious it is until it is gone. I have learned a lot about myself because in my Polish classes I was able to spend time unearthing more of my familial history and roots. In fact, in Advanced Polish, I was able to give a presentation about my heroic grandfather during WW2. Finding out stories like these is amazing, since I will be able to pass them down to my children, and hopefully they will to theirs.

My biggest piece of advice is to be resilient. Polish is a hard language that even causes problems for native speakers. I have seen many people drop the Polish language courses because it is so easy to get discouraged, but once you push through the learning curve it gets much better, there will be a moment when everything clicks and you just being to “feel” the language much more.

 

More from the #UWPolish blog:

Was There a Viking Poland? An Expert Discusses Archeological Facts and Myths

Dr. Ewa Miernowska Recognized for Her Work in Promoting Polish Film

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UW–Madison Polish Studies Program

Educating the Wisconsin public about the Polish language, literature, and culture since 1936.

The University of Wisconsin–Madison Polish Studies Program is the oldest academic program in the United States focused on the study and teaching of the Polish language, literature, and culture. UW–Madison Polish studies offer a comprehensive package of Polish language, literature, and culture courses, a generous scholarship program designed exclusively for its students, and various extracurricular activities each academic year.

The program, dating back to 1935, offers beginning, intermediate, and advanced Polish language courses, in addition to intensive Polish courses for heritage speakers and (under)graduate students. In 2011, the program received the prestigious Polonicum Award Distinction from the University of Warsaw for its achievements in promoting the Polish language and knowledge about Polish culture and history. The UW–Madison Polish program also offers a broad range of Polish culture courses on Polish film, contemporary Polish culture, Polish migration to the Americas, a survey of Polish culture from the Middle Ages to modern times, Polish comedy culture, and post-communism.

Each year, the UW Polish program awards scholarships for tuition through the Lapinski fund to undergraduate and graduate students studying the Polish language, literature, and culture. The Polish Student Association (PSA) provides a space for all students interested in events, activities, and learning about Poland and Polish culture. In collaboration with the Polish program faculty, the PSA also co-organizes the Madison Polish Film Festival, an annual celebration of Polish cinematography in Madison, Wisconsin, now more than 30 years old.