U.S. Student

One big reason to come to Poland is that it is a really fascinating country historically and culturally. I’m from theater so that’s excellent for me. It's also incredibly affordable and you can live comfortably here in a way that I'd say it's probably the most European country for the best bank for your pockets

During my Fulbright grant, I learned two things: I learned to be flexible and I also learned to stand up for myself. You know, when you need something, it is kind of your responsibility to go up to someone and let them know that there’s something that needs to be done.

For people who are applying, I would start early. I started looking for my affiliation in March of 2018 and then got the Fulbright in March of 2019 so the whole application took me one year. Start early and talk to people from the city.

The particular area of research that I do which is bacteriophage research was founded here in Europe, specifically in Poland. It’s kind of monumental to come back to the same place where this type of research originated. I really enjoy the applicable nature of bacteriophage therapy and that was something that I was only able to get here in Poland.

I'm researching the Polish avant-garde playwright Stanisław Witkiewicz. I became very interested in bringing his plays that are not well-known in America to American audiences. I'm doing an adaptation of his 1920 play "Oni" into a modern English adaptation. My project is writing a show for a very traditional theater in Kraków and they love what I’m doing.

I study modern Eastern Europe and Poland. I chose Poland because of its unique history. It is a unique place, this crossroads of Europe, and a really amazing key study for a lot of the modern issues that people face today, such as migration and nation-building.

In Poland, not only is hospitality in general at a very high level but there's also a very welcoming environment especially for a foreign American who is interested in Polish history, who is learning Polish and speaks Polish. It's really a unique experience in the world to have someone say: ‘We're so glad you're here, whatever we can do to help, please let us know.'

I tried to just leave myself a lot of flexibility in what I wanted to do here so that I could just let things kind of happen organically. And it ended up working out because I'm working with a couple ensembles that I wasn't sure I would be writing for before coming here.