THOMASVILLE — The Rotary Club of Thomasville welcomed its 97th home GRSP student, Helena Komrzyova, 24, of the Czech Republic, to its club on Thursday, as she spoke about the way of life in the Czech Republic and her time in the United States.

The Georgia Rotary Student Program (GRSP) was founded by Will Watt, Sr. of the Rotary Club of Thomasville in 1946 to promote world peace. The vision of GRSP is to develop leaders who promote understanding and peace around the world.

GRSP provides one-year scholarships to international college students to advance cultural understanding and social experiences, develop potential global leaders, and expand the ideals of Rotary around the world.

A native of Prague, Komrzyova was excited to share her way of life with the club and introduce her family.

Before traveling to the United States and enrolling at Valdosta State University, Komrzyova was finishing her Master’s Degree in International Business and Taxation. During her studies, she became an IT tutor at the University of the Third Age. It was there, she discovered her love for teaching younger children foreign languages, including German, English, and Czech.

As a student at VSU, Komrzyova is currently studying French and also learning Spanish.

Her love for learning different languages comes from her mother, Venceslava, while she got the travel bug from her father, Petr.

“She (my mother) really loves flowers,” Komrzyova said. “She knows every flower not only in Czech, but in Latin. She also really loves learning languages. Two months ago, she started to learn Vietnamese.”

Petr is the Chief Financial Officer of his company, Universal Production Partners, which creates digital and visual effects in movies, including Wonder Woman, Captain America, and Blade Runner.

“He also traveled to the United States about 30 years ago, so he was really excited about me coming here as well,” Komrzyova said.

Komrzyova has two sisters, an older sister, Hana, who is a pharmacist, like their mother, while her younger sister wants to follow in Helena’s steps and teach English and social studies.

After sharing a bit about her family, Komrzyova talked about life in the Czech Republic.

With a little more than 10.5 million residents, the Czech Republic is governed by President Petr Pavel. However, Komrzyova said if there’s one person to know in the Czech Republic, it’s Vaclav Havel.”

Havel served as the last president of Czechoslovakia before becoming the first president of the Czech Republic.

“He was fighting for our country to be free again,” Komrzyova said. “He was imprisoned for more than five years. If there was someone who was very admirable, it would be him.”

Other notable individuals Komrzyova mentioned were athletes such as hockey legend Jaromir Jagr, who went on to play on multiple American teams, and Martina Sablikova, a successful speed skater and multiple Olympic gold medalist.

Komrzyova then took Rotarians on a virtual tour of the Czech Republic, encouraging them to visit her hometown of Prague and Karlovy Vary.

“Every year there is a film festival,” she said. “We host lots of important actors, such as Jude Law and Julianne Moore, and we give them the trophy.”

Beyond the film industry, Komrzyova said the Czech Republic is known for producing Botas, a favorite brand of shoes in India, and beer.

“I cannot talk about the Czech Republic without talking about beer,” she said. “The most favorite brand is Pilsner, and each beer has its own glassware.”

Pilsner is prevalent during many of the festivities to go along with the seasons in the Czech Republic.

“For Easter, we decorate Easter eggs with beaded wax,” she said. “It’s very demanding. I tried it when I was small, and it takes hours.”

However, these eggs can be passed on for years to come.

Komrzyova explained her grandmother gave her an egg when she was just 2 years old, and she still has it to this day.

The final holiday is on the first of May and known as a Maypole celebration.

“Usually, some girls come with their really nice dress and boys dance with them and they are covering the pole with ribbons,” she said. “It’s a very, very beautiful event.”

While Komrzyova misses her hometown traditions, she has grown to love her time in the United States. While studying at VSU, Komrzyova has had the opportunity to teach young children in English about multiplication and various animals.

“I’m having the best experience of my life,” she said. “I never expected that I would be able to do something here in the United States.”

Komrzyova concluded by sharing that she has already met so many incredible people through the program and could not thank her host parents, Mary Beth and Billy Donalson enough. To share her thanks, she presented Rotary President Nate Tyler with a glass snowflake ornament and a traditional glass beer goat mug.