The Life of Rafal Wlodarczyk

For my biography project I chose to interview international student, Rafal Wlodarczyk, from Olsztyn, Poland. Rafal is a sophomore at Slippery Rock University and is a member of the SRU men's soccer team. Unlike other international student athletes, Rafals journey was a bit different compared to his peers. Typically, international students find agencies that make their process of coming to study and play in the United States a lot easier. The agency's job is to get in contact with colleges and universities in the United States to promote the athlete, communicate scholarships and guide the athlete on paperwork and test requirements.

On average agencies cost $4,000- $5,000 but due to economic circumstances, he decided to go his own route. He began to look for teams in the US and contact coaches in hopes of getting recruited. In 2020, Kevin Wilhem, SRU men's soccer coach, recruited Rafal as a left winger on the SRU men's soccer team.

From then Rafal knew he wanted to share his journey to people that share his same dreams back home. He decided to dedicate his social media pages to sharing what it's like to go to school in the United States and how he made it happen. Since then he has gained almost 4,000 followers on Instagram and amassed 34.4k followers on TikTok. After he noticed the success he has had and how much he enjoyed what he was doing, he decided that he wanted to go the step further and start his own agency for prospective student athletes in Poland. On November 17, 2021 Rafal showcased his new agency's Instagram to the public.