The Texas A&M Polish Association is a group open to anyone who is interested in expanding their knowledge of Polish culture, history and language.
The 50-member organization was established by Leadership Program Director for AgriLife Extension Service Tall Programs Jim Mazurkiewicz in January of 2015. Mazurkiewicz is a fifth-generation Polish Texan who grew up in a Polish household and said he has a strong passion for his heritage.
“I try to instill in all young people to be proud of their heritage and their culture because that’s what’s made this country so great,” Mazurkiewicz said. “Every culture has brought some treasure that we’ve all adopted and we call them now American values and American culture and history.”
Mazurkiewicz said the Polish Association has grown every year since it was established and has gone through a variety of changes. Michael Ostrowski was the organization’s first president in January 2015.
“I recruited Michael about five years ago, to come to A&M as the first generation Polish immigrants from Houston and when I got him coming, others started coming as well,” Mazurkiewicz said.
Allowing students to run youth organizations like the Polish Association is essential so they can gain skills on how to embrace their roots and teach others about their history, according to Mazurkiewicz.
“Without the youth, there is no future for Polonia or for any culture,” Mazurkiewicz said. “We must invest in our youth to propagate the culture for the future.”
Biomedical science junior Kristin Krozel is the standing secretary of Polish Association for the 2018-2019 school year. Krozel said her motivation to join to organization came from her direct involvement in the Polish culture.
“My parents came over from Poland in their teenage years, so I just grew up in a Polish household with the culture,” said Krozel. “Meeting people that are kind of in the same situation as me is comforting. Not all people in the club have had the same experience, but it feels nice to have something in common with them.”