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Every year, Winona State has a <\/span>University Theme<\/span><\/a> that promotes partnerships and conversations between faculty, staff, students, and community members about important issues.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n For the 2020-21 academic year, the theme is \u201cMy Global Identity, Our Global Community.\u201d This year\u2019s theme is all about acknowledging, reflecting, and celebrating our rich global history and opportunities.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cMy Global Identity, Our Global Community\u201d also builds awareness of the plurality of global identities through experiential learning opportunities in our community.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n In honor of this year\u2019s theme, WSU alumni are sharing their stories about how they discovered and defined who they were. Meet our second volunteer writer, Nina Horabik:<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/improving-our-world\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/09\/Nina_Horabik.png” title_text=”Nina_Horabik” align=”center” admin_label=”Nina Horabik Headshot 1″ _builder_version=”4.4.8″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text admin_label=”Body Text” _builder_version=”4.8.1″ hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Growing up in a family of Polish immigrants, I found myself curious about other countries and cultures from a young age. I often heard stories from my mother\u2019s and father\u2019s families about life back in Poland, as well as the obstacles they faced while trying to build a new life in America. This sparked the beginning of what became my life path.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n I was drawn to the idea of working with individuals from other countries, and I thought the way to do so would be through immigration law. My family members and other immigrants told me how they faced many challenges while gaining American citizenship to provide better opportunities to their families. Because of this, I felt compelled to help those aspiring to do the same.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n As a high school student, I took Spanish and Chinese language courses, self-studied a little of Korean, and volunteered at the <\/span>McHenry County Courthouse<\/span><\/a> as a peer juror to learn early on about other languages, cultures, and American legal proceedings.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n I began my journey to become an immigration lawyer at Winona State University in August of 2016 by majoring in <\/span>Legal Studies<\/span><\/a> and minoring in <\/span>Data Science<\/span><\/a>. I instantly got involved in many of WSU\u2019s student organizations, including Society of Young Legal Professionals and <\/span>International Club<\/span><\/a>. This start made me feel confident I was on my way toward my true path.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n My connection with WSU\u2019s International Club is what intensified my passion for working with diverse individuals and becoming educated on what it means to be a global citizen.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n I found myself making some of my first international friends while adding <\/span>Japanese Studies<\/span><\/a> as a minor. I even got scouted out to join the English Language Center\u2019s (ELC) team while on the International Club\u2019s annual ski trip! Joining this international community inspired me to dive headfirst into what really brings me fulfillment.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n I was elected as International Club Vice President at the end of my freshman year, and I worked on running the club alongside my other board members from May 2017 to May 2018. Simultaneously, I was the office assistant, activities assistant and tutor for ELC, which helped me get closer to the international student body as a whole.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Being a fundamental piece of one of the biggest student organizations on WSU\u2019s campus and WSU’s English language learning community gave me a sense of importance and helped me feel like I could make a difference outside of law.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n <\/p>\n I found that my true path wasn\u2019t tied to law or being in the U.S. for that matter\u2013I itched to go out and explore. That\u2019s when I changed my major to my at-the-time minor halfway through my sophomore year.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n As a bilingual speaker, growing up and being an avid language learner since high school made it feel natural when learning different coding languages and telling a story through data. It was meaningful to me that the Data Science major was more diverse and had many career opportunities globally for me to pursue.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n I experienced an unfortunate event as well at this time that brought me closer to my club members. In February 2018, I had an apartment fire that resulted in unlivable conditions and emergency relocation. This happened the same day we were meant to have our weekly International Club meeting.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n I was immediately welcomed into the homes of many of my board and club members. I was so touched to have the love and support from my club community, and I found myself starting to live with international students.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n I instantly fell in love with the dynamics and exchange opportunities that came with living with international students, and I continued doing so for the rest of my undergraduate career.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n <\/p>\n While at WSU, I worked hard to understand data science within various cultural contexts. After finishing my year of being International Club Vice President, I continued being a member of the club, joining more of WSU\u2019s <\/span>student-lead cultural organizations<\/span><\/a> like Japan Club and Korea Club, and maintaining my employment at the ELC, which later became English Language Programs (ELP).\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Due to my involvement in WSU\u2019s international community as a student and student worker, I expanded my cultural awareness and began networking with <\/span>WSU\u2019s Center for Global Education<\/span><\/a>. Creating connections with Susan Pham, Director of Study Abroad, and Renee Stowell, Center of Global Education\u2019s scholarship advisor, I began self-reflecting on not only what I wanted my undergraduate career to look like, but also the rest of my life.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Ever since I first learned about Korea\u2019s turbulent history in high school, the parallels between Korea and Poland\u2019s challenges to national sovereignty instantly drew me in. Although they are very different countries, both have a history of overcoming occupation and maintaining proud and prominent cultures.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n\n
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