By Heather Graves
Editor
DE PERE – When 16-year-old Poland native Wiktoria Ratajczyk received a scholarship to become an exchange student in the United States, she had no idea she would wind up in chilly Wisconsin, let alone De Pere.
“Don’t take this the wrong way… but most exchange students, when they think of the United States, they don’t think of De Pere Wisconsin,” Randy Soquet, De Pere High School social studies teacher, said. “So Wiktoria was not expecting, nor was she desiring to show up here.”
What started off as a learning experience for the Polish teen, has transitioned into a learning experience for many of her De Pere High School classmates as well.
Earlier this year, the school’s International Sister Cities Club began chatting with Ratajczyk’s school back in Poland.
“In January, we introduced our school to the students in her cohort, through a Google slideshow,” Soquet said. “They asked us some questions, and then this past month, they shared about their school with us. And we had some questions about their school, too.”
However, Soquet said with recent events in Ukraine, the conversations have slightly switched focus to the Russian invasion by Russia.
“Wiktoria’s groups within her school had already started supply drives for Ukraine, even before the invasion, recognizing that, you know, something’s probably going to happen,” he said. “I think Wiktoria’s teacher, Tomek, I don’t know exactly how old he is, but he’s clearly old enough to remember Soviet control of Poland.”
Soquet said Poland was not free from 1939 to 1989, because even after World War II, the Soviets were really in control.
Ratajczyk said a huge concern many people in Poland have is about next steps if the Russians are successful in Ukraine.
“They are nervous,” she said. “They’re very afraid about the next. But I live about 10 hours from the Ukrainian border, so my family feels pretty safe, but they are still very nervous about the situation.”
Ratajczyk said she’s proud of her efforts her community has made thus far for refugees, which isn’t typical of her home country.
“I’m very proud of my community because they help a lot,” she said. “My town is hosting, I think, 12 refugees right now. And they are going to host more events. They collect money, they collect food and other things. So it’s very nice. And it’s very unusual for Polish people, because they think they are very against refugees at this time. They are very nice for Ukrainian people.”
Soquet said Ratajczyk makes an interesting point.
“Earlier this year, the Belarusian leader invited Syrians to his country, saying that they could just enter the European Union through his border with Poland, and Poland was going to have none of that,” he said. “In fact, Poland stepped up its border patrols and said, ‘No, that’s not the process. The process is not just walking across the border.’ So when, Wiktoria said historically, Poland has not always welcomed refugees. There’s a classic example… I think her community’s done a great job of collecting money and collecting food, and helping send that along to Ukraine.”
Soquet said the online meetups provide club members with a real-life look at how Ukrainians are being affected, and how the people of Poland are extending a helping hand.
“That’s one thing we don’t have to think about here in the United States, at least at the present, really hosting refugees,” he said.
Soquet said the interactions have helped bring a greater awareness to his students.
“I think there was a greater awareness of the immediacy of the war,” he said. “I think that that was clear to us when we met last – the activism. I also think in the context of space and time, the realization that they are living right next to a war even though they’re not in the war, they’re right next to a war. So, I think that I think that was a bigger awareness as well.”
Soquet said he hopes as time passes, and a peaceful end to the crisis is found, the students will again chat about everyday topics.
We have a couple of meetings lined up to continue the dialogue and the discussion,” he said. “The hope would be that maybe in May, kids can just talk one-on-one and talk about kid things. You know, tell me what it’s like to be a teenager in Poland, and what’s it like to be a teenager in De Pere and things like that.”
Soquet said the opportunity technology provides students – to be able to connect with students thousands of miles away in real time via the Internet is amazing.
“It’s great to be able to sit down, and through the miracles of technology, we can discuss current events,” he said.
Ratajczyk is in De Pere until the end of the school year, and then she’ll return to Poland.
She said the exchange student experience has helped her become more confident and brave.
“I used to be very shy in Poland, and now I just have to talk to people,” she said.
Ratajczyk will have two more years of high school to complete when she returns to Poland.
“After high school, I want to go to college,” she said. “I want to be a professor – math professor or engineering or education. It’s a little difficult, because it’s very expensive, but hopefully, I will visit the United States in the future.”