My love of history and the world began thanks to my parents, immigrants from Poland who came to the United States after World War II. My first language was Polish, yet I attended an English speaking American school. I grew-up in an urban, working-class, and multi-ethnic neighborhood, however most childhood summers were spent in rural Poland. I learned about the American Revolution in school, while at home I heard first-hand accounts about the Holocaust and Nazi occupation from my parents. Shopping in well-stocked supermarkets and air-conditioned shopping malls was normal to me, but I also experienced and understood what life was like in grey and dreary communist Poland. To wit, I had incredible and diverse experiences as a child that allowed me to appreciate how rich and varied the world’s many identities, and memories of the past are. An appreciation of the many different experiences, realities, memories, and identities that shape history is what I try to convey to my students. I strive to do this each day in the classroom.
