Polish Community Experience Paper

My involvement with the community PSFCU serves, the Polish community, is quite extensive. Polish was the first language I ever learned, and I am very grateful for this. I attend Polish mass every Sunday; I am fortunate that Pittsburgh, PA has a relatively large Polish community, which allows me to still attend Polish mass 400 miles away from home. I also attended Polish School for most of my life so far, which not only taught me the intricacies of the Polish language, but also the long history of my country, often filled with hardship. For 3 years of my life, while I was in elementary school, I moved to Poland so my parents could care for my sick grandmother. Though at first I was reluctant to move overseas, I soon came to love living in my country.

I grew closer to my family, whom up until then I only saw once a year, when I visited Poland during the summer.

I experienced Polish culture in a way I never had in the United States. When I moved back to New York, I told everyone about my experiences, and wanted to get involved with anything I could that would connect me to the Polish community. I performed in Polish School festivities, and in high school I joined the Polish group in Festival of Nations, where I could share a little piece of my culture with the audience every March. Now, I am part of Polish club, a new club that meets and discusses our experiences as mostly first generation Polish-Americans. Once I graduate college, I hope to get even more involved with the Polish community, such as attending more events held by Polonia of Long Island, Inc, and spreading knowledge about our beautiful and strong county to anyone I

can.

2. After finishing school at Carnegie Mellon University, I hope to contribute to new technological developments that improve our planet, environment, and society. I am double-majoring in Mechanical Engineering and Public Policy, a double major offered only at Carnegie Mellon. In addition to a traditional engineering education, I am learning about the process of policy-making and how it applies to engineering problems. This double major will not only allow me to contribute to the design and creation of new technologies, but also to evaluate the effects of new technologies on society, and how policy can help to eliminate any negative externalities that arise from these new technologies. I intend to put this education to good use. I hope that I can work in a place where innovation is a priority, as innovation and invention are what constantly improves the world we live in. However, I also want to make use of my public policy knowledge and ensure that any new developments do not increase harm done to society, or any living beings on the planet. Furthermore, I believe we need to develop new technologies that will help decrease the effects global warming. As shown by the record high February temperatures that I’ve witness in recent days, our climate is changing significantly, and global warming is a serious problem. We need more technologies that decrease our fossil fuel consumption and carbon emissions. A good example of this are electric vehicles, which greatly decrease our gasoline consumption. I hope to contribute to, and one day live in, a world where fossil-fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emission is at an absolute minimum.

3. Currently, I am receiving funds that cover about two thirds of my college tuition. Nevertheless, this still puts an extreme strain on my family, as my widowed father is retired and has no steady income, so he often spends his last dollars to pay my monthly tuition bill. However, he still insists to pay for my education, as he doesn’t want me to be burdened by loans for years after I graduate. He doesn’t let it show, but I know it’s hard to pay $20,000 a year for my education. Any additional funding would be a huge help to us.