By Karry Kim’25
“There are so many complex aspects of this war that you can only understand if you have a deep understanding of the history between Ukraine and Russia. Yet, sometimes people try to speak about the war even though they do not understand the historical context, which makes me feel frustrated at times”
— Veronika Kitsul ‘22
Thump thump thump.
“A reading from the wisdom of …”
These sounds lead our St. Markers to some of the most intriguing stories of their peers.
Aside from the crunchy, mouth-watering egg sandwiches served for breakfast on Tuesday and Friday mornings, chapel talks serve as the highlights of the days for St. Markers.
Chapel talk is a tradition started more than ten years ago by Reverend Talcott. Seniors volunteer to deliver a short speech during the morning chapel talk about a topic of their choice with three to four people of the speaker’s choice to read quotes important to them. Given the diversity of our community, chapel talks often provide the community with a variety of life lessons. To all the seniors who have spoken this year, thank you for your words of wisdom and your long-lasting lessons. This article will recap one of the most memorable chapel talks given this year by Veronika Kitsul ‘22.
On April 13th, 2022, Veronika spoke about the importance of always being on the lookout for more information and constantly questioning our surroundings. She told her personal story of being surrounded in Russian culture despite her Ukrainian childhood. It was not until recently when she started to question the prevalence of Russian culture in Ukraine. She realized that her experience was a form of “Russification”, a cultural assimilation of non-Russians which led them to give up their traditions and roots in favor of the Russian language and culture. Along with her personal narrative, Veronika’s performance of the Ukrainian National anthem deepened St. Markers’ understanding of the heartbreaking circumstances in Ukraine.
I had a chance to briefly talk with Veronika about her chapel talk and her involvement in the activism for peace in Ukraine.
Although Veronika was inquisitive and liked to question her surroundings, she remained unaware of the Russian culture’s weight in her life until she started having conversations with her Ukrainian friends and noticing them changing their language from Russian to Ukrainian with the start of the current war. She realized that the Russian language had been a large part of the “Russification” of Ukraine, dating back to hundreds of years ago. In 1804, the Russian empire banned all Ukrainian-language schools. Ever since then, Russia had been continuously suppressing the use of Ukrainian, the first language of 67% of the Ukrainian population, going as far as shooting a person if they spoke publicly in Ukrainian. Russian was considered a more “cool” or “professional” language, resulting in its widespread use in pop culture and business communication. However, in response to the recent war, a movement in Ukraine encourages Russian-speaking Ukrainians to change their languages as a form of resistance to Russian attacks. Unfortunately, the process is difficult for Veronika and her friends as Russification has been deeply-embedded in Ukrainian society and in their daily lives.
There are about 1700 Ukrainian international students in the United States, and as a whole, they have been leading rallies supporting peace in Ukraine. Veronika is part of the Ukrainian Global Scholars Organization where she connects with many other Ukrainian international students in the US. Together, they have researched organizations to make donations for Ukraine, utilized social media to raise awareness, and organized rallies to protest for Ukrainian people’s rights. Some of her friends from the organization have even managed fundraisers and reaveled to Ukraine to deliver necessities to the people in need.
Ukrainian rally in Boston, MA
Although we cannot carry out these large projects individually, doing small deeds such as staying educated on this issue can help make change. In her chapel talk, Veronika talks about the importance of understanding the full historical and cultural context of the war instead of just looking at the current events. Although this task seems like an easy task to accomplish, since there are so many news sources, along with various Russian propaganda, it is often very difficult to learn and stay up to date with the war,. She suggests a few credible news sources, The Kyiv Independent and The Kyiv Post. Make sure to check out these websites for up-to-date, credible information on the Ukrainian war.
She also wants people to understand the gravity of the situation, as the war has not only threatened the physical safety of Ukrainians in regions of conflict, but has also caused a large food crisis that could affect the whole world. She says, “Even if you’re not being bombed, all Ukrainians are at risk because there’s no food to eat. However, I still often see memes on the internet that try to romanticize the Soviet Union. It makes me feel as though people don’t understand how serious this problem is. They can probably watch news about Ukraine and go on with their normal lives, but that’s not the case for me and many others”.
I would like to conclude this article by expressing my gratitude towards Veronika for sharing her personal stories with St. Mark’s. Her chapel talk has motivated people to further educate themselves about current events in Ukraine, and have even changed the way many people view the ongoing war.