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John Grech

I am a newspaper writer whose start in journalism was doing radio news for a local National Public Radio affiliate. I quickly learned that future was in newspapers or magazines where I could spend more time on a story and come closer to doing it justice through background and interpretation. Since then I have covered the local government beat in Columbia, Missouri for six months and state government in Jefferson City, Missouri's capital, for the last four months. I have seen politics as an avenue to become an international correspondent, specifically in Poland.

My interest in Poland was born while I was getting my Bachelor's Degree at the University of California, Santa Barbara in Central European History. My first trip to Eastern Europe was during my year studying in England in 1989. I went to Hungary which made subsequent trips behind the old "Iron Curtain" far more meaningful in terms of change.

When I graduated from UCSB in June, 1991 I went to Bydgoszcz, Poland to teach English and American history at a teacher's college (WSP). But while I could see the dramatic changes taking place as a teacher, I could hardly participate in them. I used the two years to learn Polish culture, politics, economics, and most importantly, language. While I do not claim to completely understand any of the above, I do feel a personal base in Poland.

In September, 1993 I enrolled in the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of Missouri in the hope of eventually returning to Poland as a foreign correspondent. In the meantime I will work on my Master's professional project in Warsaw during the Polish elections of 1995. Starting in January, 1996, I will be looking for a job in journalism in Poland.


Statehouse stories by John Grech include: