Senior Aleksander Klepka first moved to America from Poland in the summer of 2010.

  “I lived in Virginia Beach for two years, but had to return to Poland in July of 2012,” said Klepka.

“I moved back to America, once again, on August 21, 2017. It was shocking at first, I did not know how I felt about it. After a week, it began to feel somewhat normal. It was a huge change, but it did not feel like it. I felt like I belonged here.”

 Klepka has only been in America for a couple years, but has adapted very well to his surroundings. He has thrived academically, even with a major language barrier. 

 “When I first came to America in 2010, I barely knew English,” said Klepka. “What helped me break the barrier was the daily interactions at school via speaking, listening and reading. I believed what also helped me was the fact that I was still a little child, who’s brain absorbed all the information that was thrown at it. Fun fact, one of the greatest contributions to breaking the barrier was Spognebob Squarepants. I used to watch it every day after school with the subtitles on. Instead of watching the actual cartoon, I would read the words that popped up on the screen. Deep down, I think Spongebob has to get at least half the credit.”

 There are big differences between schools in Poland and America. 

 “For on, in Poland, we don’t have school buses,” said Klepka. “Students rely on getting to school via foot, bike, public transport or car.” 

They also get plenty of snow in the winter, but there is no such thing as a snow day off from school.

Not only did Klepka find his way academically and socially, he also excels athletically. He is a captain of our swim team. His co-captains are seniors Ariana Fletter, Kaitlyn Duffy, and James Tieu. 

“He’s really easy to get along with, super helpful, and amazingly motivational,” said Duffy. “Overall he’s not only a good leader, but a great person.”

Klepka is very easy going, and often puts others needs before his own. 

“Aleks is an amazing captain, he’s always there for the team and pushes himself during practice all the time to get better as a swimmer,” said Tieu. “Aleks is there to give speeches to the team every time before the meet; sometimes he has one prepared and sometimes he comes up with one on the fly. Either way he always comes out to hype the team up before and after the meet. He’s there for every last person on the team, and doesn’t treat them differently according to experience and etc. Aleks is a wonderful captain.” 

When Klepka isn’t thinking about swimming, Math Honor Society, or Spanish Honor Society. he is working on his senior passion project, which is math tutoring. 

“Math has always been in my heart. I’m somewhat of a perfectionist, and one of math’s characteristics is precision,” said Klepka. “Maybe that is why I love it so much. Ever since I was young, my mom has always told me to help others in need, in any way possible. I would often tutor my friends, not only in math, but also in other areas of study. Seeing people hate math makes me sad, because I believe if those people got to really experience the beauty of it, they would love it as much as I do too. This hate is what discourages people to fully experience math. The goal of my passion project is to help, but deep down, I want people to fall in love with math.” 

Initially, Klepka wanted to attend college at Virginia Tech, however, it turns out he most likely will not be able to attend college in America. 

“I’d love to stay for college in America, but I do not believe that is possible,” said Klepka. “Colleges in the U.S. see me as an international student, therefore, my fees would be really high. I don’t believe I will go to college in Poland either. The destinations I’m considering now are Germany, the Netherlands, or Scandinavian nations.” 

With Klepka’s track record odds are he will be successful no matter what he does or where he goes.

“When I came to America, I knew I had a challenge ahead of me, so I knew I had to give all that I had,” said Klepka. “I had a goal to graduate and prove to myself that I can.”

On June ninth Klepka with graduate with over a 4.0GPA and walk into a bright future somewhere in the world. If you want to know more about Poland Klepka encourages you to ask him.

“If anyone has questions, be sure to ask me! I promise I’m friendly!”