DETROIT (2/7/2013) -- Junior fencer Yaroslav Ivanov of the University of Detroit Mercy men's fencing team will not be fencing for the 2013 season but he has a legitimate reason as he will head to Warsaw, Poland to study abroad as part of UDM's architecture program.
 
“I had the opportunity to choose between Study Abroad programs in Italy, Poland, and Mexico and I chose Poland because it was based more on actual art, I understand more of the language, and it was a longer opportunity for me to be abroad,” said Ivanov who was born in Moscow, Russia.
 
Ivanov first came to the United States in 2000 when he and his mother settled in Houston, Texas. It is at this time when Ivanov started to fence before moving to Kentucky where he has been since the seventh grade. Ivanov, a left-handed fencer, went on to fence with the Louisville Fencing Center before coming to Detroit.
 
“The experience will be all the more intense for Ivan having been born in Russia, and still having relatives there gives him a taste for the culture,” said Professor Tony Martinico of the UDM Architecture Department, who will be accompanying Ivanov to Poland this semester. “Certainly Poland and Russia are vastly different, but I think Ivanov is positioned to squeeze more from the exchange experience than the average UDM student.  I have no doubt the experience will benefit him tremendously”
 
Ivanov will be leaving from his home in Louisville, Ky. on Feb. 14 for the start of his semester on Feb. 18 in Poland. The semester ends on May 24. The program Ivanov will be enrolled in is an art-based program with classes such as drawing and watercolor, urban design studio, and polish language and culture will also be among the classes he will be studying.
 
He started preparation for the trip taking a polish speaking class at UDM in the 2012 fall semester but has a step ahead in knowing the language based on its similarity to Russian. Ivanov keeps fluent in Russian by returning to the country he was born in once a year.
 
“A lot of Polish words are like Russian words except the order of the words is switched around so it is similar in many ways,” said Ivanov. “I can understand [the language] mostly but it is hard to write and they use a different Latin alphabet.”
 
Ivanov will look to focus his work and studies in architectural design, not as much technical, but design and bigger picture aspects working with more visual engineering. With the increased technology, traditional art is being pushed back and being an artist is rare and working on art is a skill that can give you an edge with employers.
 
“It is a better way for you to put your signature, your stamp on your work. It is more personal where work on a computer is all similar,” said Ivanov.
 
The Study Abroad program was established at UDM in 1980 and typically, 10-12 UDM architectural students and a professor swap with the Warsaw University of Technology. The UDM group attends classes in Warsaw during the winter term, while the Polish group is in Detroit the following fall.
 
Over 300 students from each school have participated during the program's 33-year history with one-year interruptions coming only when Martial Law was enacted in Poland in December 1981, and when the polish economy collapsed in 1990 after the fall of communism.
 
The program was initiated on the belief that the study of architecture was a powerful, unifying activity that was capable of bridging the vast political and economic ideologies that existed in the 1980's.
 
While Ivanov is in Poland, he will be missed by his fencing teammates at UDM as he finished with the second-highest win total as a sophomore in 2011-12. He earned his “A” rating in the 2010-11 season as a freshman and earned All-Midwest Fencing Conference honorable mention placing tenth in his first year of varsity competition. Primarily, he has fenced with the foil weapon but also saw time last season with the epee sword.
 
“Ivan is in the architecture program which is a really demanding and extensive program,” said Todd Dressell, now in his 14th year as the varsity fencing coach at Detroit. “They require a lot and it is really one of the premier programs here at the university. He had an opportunity to go overseas and study in Poland and I encouraged him.”
 
“Academically, the curricula of the schools interconnect nicely. Each taps into the strength of the other and provides an excellent academic compliment,” said Professor Martinico.
 
Titan athletics and the study-abroad program have at least one unique connection from the early 90's as a young Robert Rydel from Poland came to Detroit in the exchange program in 1991. Rydel joined the UDM men's tennis team for a pick-up match one day and he was eventually given an opportunity and came back to play for the men's tennis varsity program in 1993-94.
 
“I want to learn a different point of view, increase my own knowledge, and learn more about different cultures,” said Ivanov. 

Click HERE to learn more about UDM's Study Abroad programs.