When Sarah Hohman '23 began a master’s degree at The Ohio State University in August 2024, fresh from a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship in Moldova, she didn’t expect to be headed overseas again so soon.
With support from the Polish Studies Initiative, a FLAS Fellowship and Ohio State’s Center for Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies, Hohman spent six weeks this summer studying in Krakow, Poland.
Hohman enrolled at the Prolog School of Polish, attending intensive classes each day from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. The coursework, combined with cultural activities in the evenings, helped Hohman advance quickly in the language. By the end of the program, Hohman had qualified to move into third-year Polish and is now continuing coursework online through the Big Ten Academic Alliance.
“Every teacher I met at Prolog was incredible and experienced at teaching the language. My fellow students came from all over the world and shared my same passion for the language,” said Hohman.
Hohman is no stranger to fellowships or advanced study. During her time at Ohio State, she has been awarded four FLAS fellowships, three for Polish and one for Romanian. She has also taken every class the university offers in Russian, Polish and Romanian, earning an A in each.
While language study was her main focus, research also guided the trip. Hohman is writing a thesis on Polish literature from the late 1800s and early 1900s, examining how authors addressed shifting class structures during the final years of the partitions. That focus drew Hohman to Zakopane, a mountain resort town in southern Poland that became a gathering place for the nation’s intelligentsia at the turn of the 20th century.
A week before leaving Poland, Hohman visited Zakopane with fellow students. Expecting a simple hike, the group instead climbed Kasprowy Wierch, a 2,000-meter peak on the border of Poland and Slovakia.
“It was easily the most challenging hike of my life,” Hohman said. “I can't imagine trying to complete it in the early 20th century without the help of modern tourist infrastructure. However, the views from the top were well worth it!”
For Hohman, the summer abroad was both a personal milestone and an academic breakthrough.
“I’m extremely grateful to everyone who helped make it happen,” Hohman said. “I can’t wait to go back someday!”