Karol (Roszkiewicz)

Data aktualizacji:
13-09-2019- 15:22

Bożena

Karol (Roszkiewicz)

Citizen of the world

Year of graduation
1978
City/town
South Bend, IN
Country
USA
Title/ degree
MA
Field of studies
Planning and Statistics Faculty, specialization in International Finance

After graduating from Central School of Planning and Statistics (currently SGH Warsaw School of Economics), I joined BUDIMEX for some years. I worked in the Accounting Department, and later also in the Iraq Department, and my professional career was full of interesting turns. For example, after the first two years I went on a contract to El Homs (Libya), where I worked in the finance department on the construction of a power plant. I also met my husband there, who was working for a general contractor at the time. A few years later I got a two-year contract in Algiers as a financial specialist with knowledge of French. It was an extremely interesting stage in my life. I had a satisfying job, developed positive business contacts with employees of local banks and tax and insurance offices, learned the banking system and, above all, enriched my knowledge of French. At the same time, I could satisfy my curiosity about the world and various cultures (as I have always been interested in the lives and customs of people living in different parts of the world).

After returning from Algiers, I continued working at the Budimex Headquarters. Soon after that I gave birth to a daughter, and during my parental leave, my husband and I decided to emigrate. The first step was moving to Greece. In Athens, I worked as a translator at the International Emigration Office (English language). At the same time, we applied for an American visa - we managed to go to the USA after waiting for two and a half months.

I was intensively looking for a job there and I was employed by the University of Notre Dame in Indiana in the academic library, in cataloguing old prints and valuable books. Knowledge of several foreign languages (in addition to Polish and Russian I also speak French, English and Greek) enabled me to learn about various, very interesting sections of the library. I have been working in the Rare Books and Special Collections department for twenty years, where I also catalogue books in Latin and Spanish.

My work is extremely interesting, because I can commune with the most valuable books which are often unavailable in other academic libraries. In addition, I have contact with interesting people (professors of various disciplines, students) from around the world who use our collection. Every day I learn something new and my knowledge of foreign languages makes me a recognized employee. Colleagues value my help in developing various forms of book collections that we receive.

I am sure that all previous works have enriched my approach to the world, various cultures and interpersonal problems. Due to my education and life experiences, I look at the world differently and I can assess what is really significant and what is less important.

My biggest success

My (and my husband's) greatest success is a wonderful, educated daughter (a lawyer) who is a great ambassador of Polish culture. I also consider it a great achievement that I work at the University and do what is interesting to me: deal with books and meet interesting people.

My advice for SGH students
Everyone makes individual choices, according to their personal predispositions. I encourage everyone to intensively use the currently unlimited possibilities of traveling abroad and look for a job in different parts of the world.