Personal History: Personal Experience

My personal history begins in Wroclaw, also known as Breslau, Poland. I was born into a resourceful family with great intellect and determination. I immigrated to America at the age of five where I grew up in Rutherford, New Jersey. I spent my youth attempting to create a balance between two cultures. I struggled with being accepted by my suburban, American schoolmates while still maintaining my fundamental cultural identity and individuality. Lucky, I lived in very close proximity to New York City and during my teenage years in order to escape the pressures of American suburbia, I routinely found comfort and excitement jumping on the bus and heading in to the jungles of NYC. After graduating high school, I took the expected next step in life toward an Associate Degree. I attended Bergen Community College, majoring in fine arts. Because by then my parents had divorced and our financial situation had changed, I worked full time to afford tuition.

One of the fondest memoirs I have of my childhood is flying in a plane and feeling excitement for the new adventure I was about to experience in a place I had never been before. This passion of travel led me to my first trip abroad, since immigrating to the States, to Vienna, Austria. I was twenty-two years old and completely on my own. Upon my return, I promised myself to visit a

Once I graduated, I decided to make college my main priority and was accepted into the Advanced Degree Completion Program at Ramapo College of New Jersey. I am proud to share that I am due to graduate in December 2015 with a Bachelors Degree in Social Science. In my two years at Ramapo, I have made it on the Dean’s List two years in a row, continued to work full time as an executive assistant, continued to travel, and currently participating in the Ramapo Mountain Stewardship