William Penn Life, 2010 (45. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)

2010-09-01 / 9. szám

Tibor's Take

For example, between financial aid, loans, and scholarships, my tuition at Cleveland State University was covered to the last red cent. My student account was balanced—except for $125. It seems various lab fees and service charges were not covered by my loans. Combine this with the fact that I needed money for parking passes and books, my financial situation was looking grim. Left unpaid, my balance would accrue more fees and interest, and if I did not buy my books then, my grades would suffer. All in all, I was about $500 in the hole, with no shovel with which to dig myself out.

One day, I returned home particularly despondent, as I had just learned that the remainder of my bill was due at the end of the week, and my paycheck from my after school job was not coming until the following week. I wearily walked over to the kitchen table, set down my backpack, and sat down to leaf through the mail. I noticed sandwiched between a cosmetics ad and a sales letter from a car dealership was an envelope from William Penn Association addressed to me. I opened the neatly typed envelope, and to my hardly believing eyes, there was a scholarship check.

As it turns out, amidst all the pre-college chaos, I had forgotten about my application to WPA's Scholarship Foundation. As if by divine intervention, WPA had come to the rescue.

After I fixed the monetary issues, it seemed like everything else during the semester fell neatly into place.

I made the Dean's List for both fall and spring. This academic feat surpassed my goals as a first-year college student. I am now settled in at Cleveland State and am anxious to go back and begin my second year.

So, for those of you that are beginning your first year of college, or those of you who are just wrapping up the end of your high school experience, take careful note. Keep everything in perspective, do your homework, and be sure to submit your scholarship application on time to WPA. Sure, it looks like a small amount in comparison to the cost-as-much-as-a-house tuition of XYZ College, but it sure helps. Like John Wayne in his old army movies, the WPA scholarship came to my rescue in the nick of time.

....As a special note: Scout out the restaurants in and around the school you are about to attend. I commute to Cleveland State five days a week. On two of those days,

I go straight to school from work for late afternoon and evening classes. Luckily for me, I have "Hungarian To Go" Take Out Restaurant to give me a much needed energy boost. I can stop by on the way to school for a hot bowl of Gulyás Leves, a kolbász sandwich or even some Töltött Káposzta. You can only eat so many burgers and fries.

Éljen a Magyar,

Tibor II

Tibor Check Jr. is a member of Branch 28 Youngstown, Ohio, and a student at Cleveland State University. He serves as host of the “Souvenirs of Hungary” weekly radio show broadcast on WKTL-90.7 FM in Struthers, Ohio.

Take?

HUNGÁRIÁI COOKBOOK

ÉÉ ‘ladl

WE CONTINUALLY learn and grasp new ideas. Sometimes, our education may be attained by personal contact, other times it may be through reading.

Recently, I have written about cookbooks and the cherished memories those

texts contain. I wrote about one particularly great cookbook that centers on Magyar foods and recipes.

I recently received another fantastic cookbook written by WPA member Yolanda Nagy Fintor entitled Hungarian Cookbook: Old World Recipes for New World Cooks.

I have been fortunate enough to have read and have personally communicated with Mrs. Fintor. Through this unique combination of pedagogy, I have found an additional link and learning tool for understanding and preparing Hungarian food. Her book gives the reader a unique history of our Hungarian traditions practiced here in America. She not only gives the aspiring cook suggestions and ideas about cooking Magyar Style, but also offers the experienced chef alternatives and substitute ingredient ideas.

Now living in California, Mrs. Fintor credits her dearly departed mother and her loving husband for providing much of the inspiration for her book. This publication is more than a tutorial cookbook—it is an animated and descriptive history of a young girl that grew up in a large extended Magyar family in Pittsburgh, moves to Detroit and eventually settles in California.

I am proud to say Hungarian Cookbook is the perfect compliment to the Culinaria publication. My sister loved reading and creating with the aid of Mrs. Fintor's book. Just the other night, my sister Lizzy told me, "I love how all of the recipes use ingredients that we always have in the house. Dad, loves the Dilled Cream Cheese Cake I made yesterday!" □

Let's hear your take

Let me know how you enjoy my thoughts and views on growing up Hungarian Style. If you have any questions or comments about me or my column, please email me at: SilverKingl937@yahoo.com, or drop me a letter in care of the William Penn Association, 709 Brighton Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15233.

William Penn Life 0 September 2010 0 9