Post by nathanael on Jun 18, 2008 13:32:56 GMT -7
If we believe the media, some Polish people seem definitely more lucky than others when it comes to an early start on the American Dream! Are they? Or are they being deliberately manipulated and "created for public consumption," by the media? Today, June 18, 2008, TODAYS contributor Bob Considine wrote this "strangely optimistic," intriguing article:
"Lukasz Zbylut has taken “the old college try” to a whole new level. 5 years since entering U.S., he gets into 7 Ivy Leagues.
The Polish émigré couldn’t speak English; now he’s admitted to 17 top schools" 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?
June 18: TODAY’s Meredith Vieira and Matt Lauer spoke with Lukasz Zbylut,
“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.” 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. 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 didn't mind the snob: “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.”
I wish the young man the best, by all means. But in spite of everything "positive" that has been said, I feel uneasy about this story. It is not the norm. It is not something that usually happens in America. Many people may be deceived by this "optimism." I have been there myself. It has been much harder for me the first 5 years! I went through several important schools in the U.S. myself. It was upstream, not because of my achievements, but because of the liberal secular humanist opposition against my Catholic conservative Polish views! What is faulty in the article, is that it does not speak about academic successes, yet lists the best schools! Nor does the article mention the difficulty of getting the necessary GRE scores for a non-native English speaker! One gets the impression that the young man has already succeeded in America ... when in fact the way before him has not yet been travelled! It is one of the most deceptive stories I have ever read!
"Lukasz Zbylut has taken “the old college try” to a whole new level. 5 years since entering U.S., he gets into 7 Ivy Leagues.
The Polish émigré couldn’t speak English; now he’s admitted to 17 top schools" 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?
June 18: TODAY’s Meredith Vieira and Matt Lauer spoke with Lukasz Zbylut,
“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.” 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. 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 didn't mind the snob: “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.”
I wish the young man the best, by all means. But in spite of everything "positive" that has been said, I feel uneasy about this story. It is not the norm. It is not something that usually happens in America. Many people may be deceived by this "optimism." I have been there myself. It has been much harder for me the first 5 years! I went through several important schools in the U.S. myself. It was upstream, not because of my achievements, but because of the liberal secular humanist opposition against my Catholic conservative Polish views! What is faulty in the article, is that it does not speak about academic successes, yet lists the best schools! Nor does the article mention the difficulty of getting the necessary GRE scores for a non-native English speaker! One gets the impression that the young man has already succeeded in America ... when in fact the way before him has not yet been travelled! It is one of the most deceptive stories I have ever read!