Senior Julia Anitescu’s paper “Romanian Unity” was published in the fall edition of The Concord Review, a quarterly history journal that publishes high school students’ work. 

Although her essay was only published recently, she wrote the essay as a sophomore in Christy Gerst’s AT European History class for the research paper on diversity and identity, in which Julia explored her own Romanian heritage. Specifically, the paper explores how Romanians maintained a common identity between 1820 and 1860 despite the hegemony of foreign imperial powers, an era familiar to native Romanians.

“They’re told stuff about this when they’re kids. I was not, because I went to school here, so I didn’t get that same education,” Julia said. “It’s just me figuring out the culture through my own way.”

While she does speak Romanian, Julia uses opportunities like her history paper to understand the culture of her native Romanian grandparents. 

“It’s a pretty big cultural divide for, like, two generations and also American versus Romanian because the cultures are really different,” Julia said.

In addition to her history paper, Julia translates Romanian texts for the Ouroboros Journal as another means of becoming closer to her heritage.