Polish School im. ?w. Maksymiliana Marii Kolbe
Beep! Beep! Beep! I looked up with sleepy eyes at the alarm clock. Today is Saturday. After a long week of english school, I got to get up once more. The time is 7:00 in the morning. But no, I thought. Today is the final, last day of graduating from 8th grade of Polish school. I get up and get ready. Put on my blue gown and cap.
Once at Polish school in the classroom, my teacher Mrs. Zurawska goes crazy all over the place taking red and white ribbons and pinning it to everyones gowns; making sure that the caps are all perfect and the tassels are all on the right side on the cap of all the students that are in my class; about 40 of them and telling everyone to hush up. Marek started singing “Silent Night” in polish to make everyone quiet. Everyone started laughing. The time is 10:00 in the morning. Once we left the classroom and were in the church before the graduation mass, Mrs. Zurawska overwhelmed says, “Everyone one, two, three, come on, in order paired up.”
I ended up being partners with the most funniest kid in my class named Marcel. All year Mrs. Zurawska would yell at him to listen, stop talking and doing immature things. But, my whole class liked him. Marcel always made us all laugh. Thanks to him, everyone in my class including me, would probably recall Polish school up to 8th grade of being a pleasant and fun time remembering of how he would always spice the Saturday up from boring teacher talking, to the memory of him making us laugh with his stupidity and humor. One time he was talking so much that the teacher switched him to our girl table and he still was talking and made my friends and I laugh so hard nonstop. It was crazy. Sometimes more action would happen in that classroom for 3 hours, then in a whole week of English school.
The mass began we walked in the procession to the altar and then sat down in the front 3 rows. During the homily the priest Fr. Tadeusz Dzieszko was talking about how we have finish one of the many stages that every human being goes through; to graduate, but this is not the end and you should continue and finish Polish school completely.
This got me thinking that maybe I should finish Polish school completely. I mean I been going for 8 years already it won’t hurt to do three more. I might as well just get my polish education finished completely.

“Judyta! Judyta!” I could hear from the distance Mrs. Skrzyniarz calling me. I started searching where my teacher was. It was so hot and crowded in the back of the church. Everyone was getting ready in pairs by schools to enter the church in a procession.
My school ?w. MMK was in the front because our school was the one that organizes everything this year. From studniowka (polish prom/dance). To the yearbook. To the graduation mass. The time was 2:00 in the afternoon. The graduation mass was taking place today May 18, 2014 at the church St. Hyacinth Basilica in Chicago. This year about 600 kids were graduating. They were all my age, from all polish schools, all over the chicago area. Polish school is the same thing as English school except you talk and learn everything about Poland’s history, language and culture.
Finally I spotted Mrs. Skrzyniarz. She was wearing a black-pink lace dress. From all the whiteness I spotted her quickly. It was white everywhere. Everyone was wearing white gowns, white caps with red/white tassels with a gold 2014 number hanging from them.
“I need you and Konrad, Nicole, Piotrek, Sara and Kuba to go to a special row after the procession in the back of the church because you will be carrying the gifts to the altar during the mass.”
“Ok.” Not again I thought to myself. But, I agreed.
So we got in pairs and the procession finally begun. The time was 2:30 in the afternoon.
During the homily Bishop Andrzej Wypych talked about patriotism, to be proud that you are polish, to in the future and life ahead of us remember to always use three simple words: thank you, please and sorry and to be thankful that you officially ended your polish education and that you should be happy of the decision that you made to finish it because it will someday grow and give a fruit of all that hard extra work that wasn’t mandatory, but was your own will to do and someday will be helpful in a way in your life; for example in get a job or moving to or visiting Poland.
While he was talking I started thinking, finally it comes to an end today of the decision I made 3 years ago to not finish Polish school after 8th grade, but to finish completely it by going 3 more years which is optional, and I decided to do it. To forever be done with having extra loads of homework added to my English school homework. But, this decision was a big decision that completely changed my life and I am happy I made.

The three years of high school Polish school will always remain in my memories.
The time is 1:00 in the afternoon. This is one normal Saturday of many. Polish school is about to start. Waiting for Mrs. Skrzyniarz to come. Out of the 40 that graduated 8th grade there is about 35 sitting in class now that like me who decided to keep coming to Polish school.
“Good Morning,” said Mrs. Skrzyniarz as she entered the classroom.
I will always remember all the educational stuff my Mrs. Skrzyniarz taught us, but most importantly the life lessons and stories she told us everytime about her life.
One time she told us of the time of when her mom was little, she lived in the lower part of Poland in the mountains and when Poland was occupied by Germany and Russia during WWII, her house that her mom and family lived in was the nicest house in her whole town and a German General chose to have his command and resting place here; they were very lucky and didn’t have it bad during the war because that German General was very nice they always had a warm dinner and a place to sleep; this taught me that maybe not all Germans are bad and it just depends of what kind of person they are and not their nationality.
Mrs. Skrzyniarz read the most interesting polish news articles to us and always informed us of what was going on in the world and if we didn’t understand anything she would explain it to us. When Pope Francis was chosen pope she read and told us all the stuff ever wrote about him.
Mrs. Skrzyniarz is a very brave and courageous woman. One day she told us this: “When I got home and I parked my car on the street. Then I grabbed my purse and got out of the car. As I was closing my car, some guy riding a motorcycle grabbed my purse and started dragging me along with him. I would not let go! No way, because I had all my important papers and everything in that purse like all older polish womens do. After like 30 seconds he let go and drove away. Everything was fine, but I did end up with lots of cuts from rocks on the street and had to go to the hospital.”


Mrs. Skrzyniarz was a very brave, courageous and the nicest teacher that I ever had my whole life. I will always remember her. In other words, the decision that I made to continue and completely finish polish school was a good one and I am glad I made it because of the awesome teacher I had and the friendships that got stronger in that class that I was with for 11 years.