Freshman Zory Tatarko has grown up with Ukrainian culture as a big part of her life. Her dad’s side of the family is Ukrainian, and when she was around seven or eight, he took her to Ukraine for the first time. “He enrolled me in Ukrainian schools and we’ve hung out with other Ukrainian families since I was really young,” Tatarko said. For Tatarko, being in Ukraine was such a good experience; she spoke about how nice it was to see her family and actually meet them for the first time.
Her family celebrates a lot of Ukrainian traditions too. “We always do Ukrainian Christmas, which is around the same time as normal [Christmas], but it’s always bigger,” she said. “During Easter, we always paint and dye eggs.” Ukrainian Christmas is a significant holiday celebrated with traditions like the 12-dish Christmas Eve dinner and the didukh sheaf of wheat. The main Christmas meal is meatless and begins with the appearance of the first star in the sky. That first star represents the Star of Bethlehem and signals that it is time to gather and eat together.
Tatarko has family who still live in Ukraine, and even though it can be hard to stay in touch, they make it work. “They don’t have text messages [or other messaging apps except] Skype and WhatsApp, so I had to get those apps to talk to them. But, I love talking to them. They’re super sweet,” Tatarko commented. She said they often ask about her school, volleyball games, and what life is like in the U.S.
She also wishes more people understood that Ukrainian culture is its own thing. “Ukrainian is not the same as Russian,” she said. “Everyone assumes it is, but it’s completely different. Ukrainian culture goes back so far and there’s more to it.”
The 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and the resulting war is something her family talks about a lot. “My dad sees it on the news and gets really mad. He’s upset and he sends our family some money every month to help support them,” she explained.
Her message to other people is simple: “Ukraine is its own country. It’s separate and independent, and it has a lot of background and culture. Everybody should understand that.”
Tatarko is also heavily involved in the Sycamore community. She volunteers, plays volleyball, and has been at Sycamore her whole life. She is known for her friendly personality and her willingness to help others. Tatarko loves spending time with friends and her family, like her younger brother Luka. Tatarko goes to the lake almost every weekend to be on the water.
