When Piotr Walaszek was a freshman at Elmwood Park High School, getting good grades wasn’t a priority — and it showed
He’s turned that around.
Walaszek is part of Elmwood Park High School’s 2015 graduating class. In the fall, he’ll be attending Northern Illinois University on a Chick Evans Caddie Scholarship.
“I’m really proud of how far I’ve come,” he said. “I’m really proud of what I’ve accomplished. I’ve enjoyed it and never regretted it.”
But getting to that point wasn’t easy. He admits that his freshman year he had a 2.2 grade point average.
“I wasn’t motivated,” he said. “I didn’t have that mindset that you need to focus on school. Trying to rebound off of my freshman year was kind of hard.”
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Walaszek and his family came to United States in 2000 from Poland when he was 3 years old; he’s one of six children.
“When I was in fifth grade, my dad was diagnosed with skin cancer,” he said. “He hasn’t worked in the past seven years. My mom started cleaning houses.”
With his mother working a lot and his father dealing with cancer, Walaszek was often on his own to try to make things happen for himself financially and academically.
Academically, his source of inspiration came from Karen Bear, a teacher and advisor to the school’s DECA Club, which pushes students to become entrepreneurs. Walaszek joined DECA his freshman year and has remained a member since.
He said Bear helped him mature and think about the future.
“Piotr was kind of flighty as a freshman,” Bear said. “I had Piotr for lots of business classes and he was able to make a complete turnaround.”
Walaszek considers Bear a big part of his turnaround because she stressed to him the importance of getting good grades in high school.
“She’s the reason I didn’t continue down the road I was going,” he said. “She was definitely my biggest mentor in high school.”
So starting his sophomore year, he hit the books hard, getting a 4.0 grade point average or higher each year.
When he wasn’t in school, he was at the North Shore Country Club in Glenview, caddying to make money since his mother was the sole breadwinner.
“I’ve been caddying since I was 13,” he said. “It was one of the only jobs you could get at a young age. I later worked in the bag room and cleaned clubs and bags.”
Adam Brockway, caddie master at the country club, said Walaszek is one the hardest working kids he’s ever met.
“In the summer, he was here six to seven days a week and worked private outings,” he said. “In the fall he’s here every Saturday and Sunday until Thanksgiving, when we close. It’s usually just a summer gig for most kids.”
He said he persuaded him to apply for Chick Evans Caddie Scholarship.
“You could definitely see a change in him and I told him about the Evans Scholarship and it’s real good that he got it,” he said. “He’s an awesome kid and 90 percent of the members know him.”
His older sister, Joanna Loboda, speaking on behalf of their parents who do not speak English very well, she said the family’s very proud of him. They plan to throw him a party.
“He’s one of the best so far out of all the six kids,” she said. “My parents are extremely, extremely proud of him.”
Walaszek said he wants to major in marketing at Northern Illinois University and minor in finance and economics. He wants to own his own marketing company someday.
Until then, he’s happy that the stress of paying for college is gone and the opportunity he has to really succeed.
“I know this was going to change my life,” he said. “All those four years constantly going to work and working hard in high school all paid off.”
Now he uses his experience to inspire others and will continue to do so far into the future.
“When I see younger kids, I try to talk to them especially those just getting through with Ds,” he said. “I try to get them to focus more on school. High school is important and it will set you up for the rest of your life.”
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