Agnieszka Szarlowicz hasn’t lived in Poland for over 10 years. “Small country, tired. All the wars and everything has affected mentality and all,” describes Agnieszka Poland. She had graduated from university and had a good job in Poznan. “Life was good, but I just wanted something different,” she says, “I wanted to find out, what’s life like in a different country.” That was the decision for her.
“Seeing all the other people following a certain pattern in Poland where you finish university, you get married, you get a mortgage, I don’t think I felt like doing that, I wanted to try something different.” She finished university and headed to Leeds where she had couple of friends already waiting.
It was just after Poland had joined the EU in 2004. “I moved here in December, so it was just after that when we flooded UK.” Therefore it was quite easy for her to move to the UK as everyone were doing it.
But it wasn’t so easy for her family. “My mom, who is old-fashioned and very traditional, for her it was a bit more difficult to understand why I didn’t want to stay in Poland.” Agnieszka is still thinking if it was a right decision or if she should’ve stayed in Poland. “It’s not a nice feeling. I feel I’ve missed out on so many things, but at the same time this is the life that works for me here, so I’m trying to find that balance.”
Agnieszka talks about what she realised after moving to the UK.
