Polish émigré 5 years since entering U.S., he gets into 7 Ivy Leagues

Polish émigré 5 years since entering U.S., he gets into 7 Ivy Leagues

Poland - making a difference



By Bob Considine
TODAYShow.com contributor

Polish émigré 5 years since entering U.S., he gets into 7 Ivy Leagues
Polish émigré couldn’t speak English; now he’s admitted to 17 top schools

By Bob Considine
TODAYShow.com contributor
updated 9:05 a.m. ET, Wed., June. 18, 2008
Lukasz Zbylut has taken “the old college try” to a whole new level.

The New York teenager, who emigrated from Poland only five years ago, applied to seven Ivy League schools — and was accepted by every one of them.

Now he’s thrilled to further his education at his “dream school” of choice — Harvard. What, Yale wasn’t good enough for him? How about Princeton?


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“I do feel sorry, and I feel awful for turning down such great institutions,” Zbylut told TODAY co-hosts Matt Lauer and Meredith Vieira. “But it’s Harvard.”

Among the other schools he declined were Columbia, Dartmouth, Penn, Cornell, Georgetown, Stanford and New York University.

There were 10 other prominent schools that also accepted the ever-smiling 18-year-old. But he knew he could only pick one.

“It’s a great feeling to have,” Zbylut added. “And it’s very exciting — and confusing, to an extent.”

A class act
Lukasz Zbylut (pronounced Loo-KASH Zbeh-LOOT) was in seventh grade when he came to the United States. At that point, he admits, he had only a limited grasp of the English language.

“It’s quite amazing that the first words you learn in any language are the curses,” Zbylut said with a laugh. “It’s ‘thank you’ and the curses. Someone should study that at some point. But I’ve come a long way since then.”

Zbylut said the transition to attending school in the U.S. was “easier than expected.”

“Schools in Poland are very rigorous, as you can imagine,” he said. “When taking my first exam, I was constantly turning to the girl next to me because in Poland, [testing] is very collaborative. Here, it’s the opposite.”

In addition to holding such high grades, Zbylut is co-captain of his school’s United Nations team; founder of its debate team; president of its mock-trial team and editor of the school newspaper. And, just for kicks, he plays soccer.

With such credentials, Lauer asked, why did Zbylut apply to so many schools when he knew he’d be accepted to so many of them?

“That isn’t really true, especially the last decade,” Zbylut explained. “[It’s] very competitive. We’re into the single digits when it comes to acceptance rates.

“I thought of myself as a great candidate, but I was never certain of getting into a single one college.”

Zbylut plans to study politics, law and philosophy at Harvard. But there was one school that actually did turn him down — the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Zbylut said he didn’t mind the snub.

“I really don’t regret it, because I would never be as passionate as a student they potentially could have given the spot to,” he said. “I’m hoping that the spot they gave would have been to someone who is very passionate about politics and everything.”

UN soldier in Lebanon trades her blue beret for a veil

UN soldier in Lebanon trades her blue beret for a veil






MARJAYOUN, Lebanon (AFP) -- Sylvia Monika Wyszomirska is a Catholic from Poland, but in an effort to integrate better into south Lebanon's conservative society she has traded her UN peacekeeper's beret for a headscarf during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.


""Out of respect for the environment I work in, I feel I need to try to integrate myself"" during Ramadan, said 37-year-old Wyszomirska who has been stationed in the country for four months.

""And since my contingent is deployed in a Muslim area, I have decided to wear the hijab,"" the Muslim veil, over military fatigues, the mother of a little girl told AFP.

Wyszomirska chose a veil in the same light shade of blue used for the berets worn by members of the 13,000-strong United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), which keeps the peace along the tense Lebanon-Israel border.

A native of Krakow, Wyszomirska works as a translator for the 200-member Polish contingent of UNIFIL, and her job brings her into direct contact with the people who live in Shiite-majority villages across the Marjayoun region.

Her deployment to southern Lebanon is not Wyszomirska's first encounter with Muslim tradition. She has also been to Kuwait and Iraq and worked in Syria as well to perfect her Arabic.

""When I was studying Middle Eastern languages at Jagiellonski university back home we also learned about the customs, traditions, history and geography of the countries we might end up working in -- places like Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Kuwait,"" she said.

Wyszomirska's decision to wear the veil during Ramadan has helped to break the ice with local villagers, both for her personally and for her colleagues in the Polish contingent.

""At first relations were lukewarm, especially since we don't come from a rich country with things to offer the people,"" she said. ""All we can offer them is respect and a smile. But since I started wearing the veil, people have been more welcoming with me and also with my colleagues. This has opened more doors and opportunities to strike up friendships.”

""They began inviting us into their homes for coffee or sweets. And when we pass by the children smile and wave at us,"" she said.

""Today I feel almost as if I have a second family in Debbine, Blat and Arid,"" she added of the mostly Shiite villages in the area.

Wyszomirska said that wearing the veil was ""a gesture from the heart -- it was not imposed on me.""

Her superior welcomed the idea that she wear veil during the holy month.

""He also suggested to me that I explain Ramadan customs to the other soldiers so they can respect the traditions and refrain from eating and drinking in public during fasting"" between dawn and dusk, she said.

Another woman peacekeeper in the Polish contingent, a 36-year-old, said she thought ""wearing the veil was a smart move, because it brought us closer to the residents,"" but also added that she would not do the same herself.

""It would change my look completely, and that's not something I want.""

Some of the villagers were slightly taken aback by the sight of the fatigues-clad Wyszomirska wearing a veil.

""I was surprised to see Sylvia wearing the headscarf, because I know she's not a Muslim,"" said Zahraa Hijazi, a veiled student from the village of Debbine.

""But in any case nuns wear veils even though they are Christian,"" she added.

Debbine mayor Mohammed Sherif Ibrahim agreed that many of his constituents were surprised by Wyszomirska's decision to wear the veil ""because it is out of the ordinary"".

""But it is also a nice gesture that breaks down barriers between UNIFIL and the local people,"" he said.