MS. BIALAS WILSON

I was born in Germany in 1969. Both my father and my mother were refugees from Poland who settled in Southern Germany.

My mother fled the Russians with her mother and her siblings in 1945 and came to Southern Germany with nothing but her clothes and a doll. My father left Poland in 1958 because he did not see a future for himself and purchased a watch repair business in 1969 right before I was born. He worked and lived in the same village until he passed in 2018.

I grew up in a small town called Winnenden where I walked to school and ran errands for my parents before I could read. After 13 years of school I graduated with the ABITUR (the German High School Diploma) and completed a volunteer year in a home for severely disabled children. in 1989 I started my teaching diploma in Heidelberg.

1993 I passed my first Teacher State Exam and after my student teaching and more studies I passed the second Teacher State Exam and was a licensed teacher in the state of Baden- Wuerttemberg.

My husband and I met in 1994 in Stuttgart and it was love at first sight. When he said he would move back to North Carolina I was heart broken because I would never ever consider moving to the US.

After spending time with his family and enjoying the wonderful Southern hospitality in North Carolina I decided to move here - on a tourist visa. Which is practically not possible.

But I found a job at Smith Academy- applied for a work visa - I went back to school to take classes for a North Carolina teacher license- got engaged and married in 1997. Our two were born in 2000 (Graham, South Meck grad) and Lydia in 2002 (Harper Middle College)

Both our children are fluent in German and so is my husband. I travel back all the time to be with my favorite people in the world. My brother and my sister. I miss them terribly every day. I speak with my mom every week because she does not have a computer or smart phone chatting is our way to communicate. I miss my dad terribly- my heart aches when I think of him. He loved to travel and he loved to give- and he left this earth when it was no longer possible for him to do what he loved. He left my siblings and me with a heart full of love.

In 2018 I applied for US citizenship and now have two nationalities. But in my heart I will always be German. The Germans are extremely environmentally friendly- that is why you will see me and my students pick up trash on campus and help with campus beautification.