New USU Tooele math professor adjusting to differences in cultures, education

For new USU Tooele math professor Piotr Runge, Tooele is remote, extremely small and socially different than his hometown of Poznan, Poland. All the same, Runge and his fledgling family chose to venture to town and say life couldn’t be better.

“We love it here,” Runge said. “There are sidewalks everywhere, beautiful sunsets and warm evening air.”

Runge, 30, and his wife Bozna traveled to the United States from Poland seven years ago when Runge decided to obtain a doctorate degree in math education from Utah State University.

At first, moving to Logan was a tough change for the couple, but after seven years they got pretty attached, Runge said.

“Logan was very boring at first, but now I feel like it is better to live in a small town,” Runge said.

So when a full-time teaching opportunity at the USU Tooele campus meant packing up their belongings and heading southwest to an even smaller community, the Runges were unfazed.

“I didn’t want to leave Utah. I love nature and the mountains,” Runge said. “It was an easy decision. When opportunity knocks you have to open the door.”

Now all settled in their Overlake home, the Runges have found their home away from home as the Polish community is now just a short jaunt around the mountain creating the opportunity to submerge their children — ages 6, 5 and 2 — into the culture they so dearly love.

“People [in Utah] don’t have time to socialize a lot,” Runge said citing what he calls one of the biggest cultural differences between locals and foreigners.

As such, the Runges venture out to meet with the Polish community every week for soccer games, picnics, celebrations, and to provide opportunities for their children to speak Polish with people their age.

Another difference, Runge said, that spans the two cultures is the functionality of the two education systems.

“Polish and American school systems are totally different. They are almost incomparable,” Runge said. “In Poland, you don’t have much freedom [to choose what courses you want to take] until your third of fourth year of university.”

This very structured education system means Polish students complete university level courses in high school and move straight onto master’s degrees following graduation.

“0900 math in Poland would be considered elementary mathematics,” Runge said.

The U.S. school system is considered to be very liberal in Poland, Runge added, but he said he doesn’t necessarily agree.

“It would be nice to combine the two systems,” Runge said. “I like to ask students what they like. I like to accommodate them.”

Even though Runge has only been in Tooele a month now, and teaching math 1010 and 1050 since the end of August, he is already impressed with the students he interacts with.

“Here I have a different kind of student,” Runge said citing a difference between the students he taught at the USU main campus in Logan as part of his stint as a teacher’s assistant. “They have a family and work and are still getting an education. They are a lot more dedicated. They are convinced this is really important for them. It’s a perfect setup type thing.”

It’s this interaction that Runge said drove him to want to teach.

“I like interaction with people,” Runge said. “So this is a way I can pass on knowledge and interact with people.”

Beyond math and social interaction, Runge has a love for photography, computers and music. He’s a self-taught piano enthusiast, who shares his ability to belt out a familiar tune or tickle the ivories at any opportunity.

“Guns and Roses,” Runge said. “That’s how I learned to play the piano. I listened to the music and played what I heard.”

Runge said he and his family don’t have any plans to return to Poland — other than for vacation — and look forward to exploring the community more in coming months.

“I see lots of opportunities here, not only for myself as a teacher, but for the students. [USU Tooele] is growing in enrollment every year.” Runge said. “I like everything I’ve seen so far, except for the smell of the lake and the grasshoppers.”

Jamie Belnap: jamieb@tooeletranscript.com