2008 Woodie Awards
Behind the Smile: Getting to know Vera Sidlova '11
Vera Sidlova is a first-year student with a bubbling personality and endless smile. She describes her self as "odd and talkative" but to the people who know her best she is funny, kind and genuine. Originally from the Czech Republic, Vera spent time in F
By: Kristin Riegel, Features Editor
Issue date: 4/11/08 Section: Features
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VS: Well, I applied here in my gap year and what brought me is that in spirit, I thought that Mac was the school that would make me feel most comfortable as a person. I didn't know a lot of about it but I also didn't know too little either.
TMW: What did you do in your gap year?
VS: I spent my gap year in Finland volunteering i antiracism program for adults and children. I was in charge of the regional program for students in western Finland.
TMW: What were the best and worst parts of your job?
VS: I really enjoyed what I was doing in terms of the work and I really enjoyed Finland and the people . . . but I had a lot of trouble with the organization and the projects surrounding the European Union. I learned a lot about bureaucracy and about people not always being willing to help you or work with you. Overall, it was really heart warming to do the actual work and really hard to deal with the bureaucracy.
TMW: Would you do it again?
VS: I really, really liked my gap year and I wouldn't trade it for the world.
TMW: Did you have any expectations about the United States or Americans before you came here?
VS: I tried not to have many ideas but of course that's not the way it works. I expected everything to be in a huge rush and that everything and everyone would be really busy and productive; that was my main stereotype. I also expected people to smile a lot. I don't know why, but I thought people would always be smiling.
TMW: When you arrived at Macalester you were 20 years old. Was it hard being older than the other first year students?
VS: In the beginning it was because it was just another difference on top of other differences. But now I've found my place and I don't see it.
TMW: What were some of the other differences that you faced? How have you dealt with those differences?
VS: I think a lot of the differences had to do with growing up in a different environment and just having less access to the world because I didn't grow up with a lot of knowledge about what was going on. When English is your first language you have a lot more media sources. There were a lot of differences connected to growing up in those different environments but I think but I overcame those by listening to different people's experiences and having them listen to mine.
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