AUGUST
1999
FSU'S STUDENT HUMANITARIAN: HOPING TO HEAL SICK CHILDREN
By Bill Berlow
Condensed from the Tallahassee Democrat
I read the paper the way most people
do: When I see a photo of someone I know even just a little,
I read that story.
When I picked up the March 1 paper at the breakfast table and
pulled out the local section, that's exactly what happened.
"Hey, I know her," I said to myself. "That's Coach
Meredith."
Meredith Polansky, 21, is my daughters' former gymnastics
coach. They were extremely fond of her. I hardly knew her, except
to say "hi" occasionally when I picked up my girls.
I didn't think much about her, but she did leave an impression.
Because she wore colored, spiky hair, lots of earrings in her multi-pierced ears, and a ring in an eyebrow, I figured she was sort of into punk - or at least trying to make a statement with her appearance.
But that news story had nothing to do with Meredith's coaching or how she looks. It noted her extensive volunteer work on behalf of needy people, and that she was one of seven Florida State students who'd been nominated as the university's humanitarian of the year.
Tuesday (April 6), FSU honored Meredith as its top student humanitarian, an honor that seemed to make perfect sense after I spent an hour and a half with her to learn more about someone whom I'd unfairly stereotyped.
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POLANSKY
Meredith is about helping people in need and setting high
standards for herself. She packs an amazing amount of activity
into her schedule
Now she's an FSU senior with a 3.8 GPA. Here's a rundown of everything
that's on her plate: 13 credit hours of course work that includes
physics, evolution and a short-story class; 25 hours a week as
head coach of International Gold Gymnastics; seven hours a week
working at the student health center on campus; a research project
involving the cloning of frog germ cells, to which she devotes
about two hours daily; two to three hours a day of homework.
"I'm concerned about my grades," she said, noting
that she's received only three B's in an otherwise straight-A
college career. "But that doesn't really reflect who you
are. Your experiences reflect who you are."
She's wanted to be a pediatrician since she was a kid, thanks
to a young woman who was her doctor. She likes kids, one of the
reasons she enjoys coaching so much.
"I identify with them," she said, laughing. "I
admit I'm still a kid; I still like to act like one."
Naturally curious, she's traveled extensively, mostly on her
own tab - to England, Spain, Morocco, Puerto Rico, Australia,
New Zealand and the South Pacific.
Seeing so many poor people abroad influenced her decision to work with needy people overseas. Her curiosity also was behind her decision to check out The Shelter not long after she arrived in Tallahassee.
"I had never encountered homeless people before. I came
here and saw all these people on the streets, and I wondered
where they went at night. "I saw The Shelter on Tennessee
Street, and I just went in there one day and said I'd like to
volunteer."
Now she's a fixture there, volunteering twice a week. The Shelter's
director, Mel Eby, nominated her for the humanitarian award.
He describes her as "totally reliable and wanting to make a difference all the time." She's full of ideas for helping, he said. For example, it was Meredith who developed materials to help Spanish-speaking clients.
After graduation, she plans to take a year off before med school. Once she's an M.D., she wants to join the Peace Corps. Eventually, she said, she might return to this country to practice medicine among the rural poor.
Certainly no punk, she's reminded me how narrow-minded it is to make assumptions about people based solely on appearance. That's a lesson worth remembering and passing along.
Thanks, Meredith.