Krystyna Golovakova’s office is filled with arts and crafts made by people she has met at Cornell University since she started working there in 2022. There are paintings of Ukrainian towns on her wall and baskets of intricately designed pysanky eggs on her desk. “I’m really happy to fill my niche here,” said Krystyna as she described four academic courses on Ukrainian language, culture, and history, which she designed and teaches with the goal to make Ukrainian voices heard. “I [have been] a teacher my whole life,” she continued. Before becoming a lecturer at Cornell, she had taught languages in Ukraine and the Philippines for over 27 years. It was also in the Philippines that she first learned about Dr. Suess, whose books she read to her son. Years later in 2025, she realized her long-held inspiration and started writing poems in English. True to her teacher nature, Krystyna shares her poems and life lessons via her Instagram page @prof.k.says. Despite her long history of teaching abroad, coming to teach in Ithaca was never a part of her career plan—at least not until the Russian invasion of her home country.
As political tension rose, Krystyna feared that something bad was going to happen and decided to take her two young children to Greece for “a vacation.” Ten days after they left their home with only two suitcases, the war began. That was when Krystyna realized she had left her home for good, without initially knowing it. Her young daughter’s favorite pink bunny was still at home, but they could no longer go back to retrieve it or any of their other belongings. Fortunately, Krystyna and her two young children were able to travel from Greece to Ithaca, where her oldest daughter had been living with her American husband.
Being forced to move to a new country with two young children was a difficult experience. “I thought it was only me, a war-displaced single mother who would have to rely on no one but herself,” recalled Krystyna. Since her childhood, she had been taught that “a good woman should do everything herself” and that it is shameful to ask for help or express one’s dissatisfaction. “[Women are] supposed to give endlessly—to work, to care, to look good, to sacrifice—and they are still told they are not enough,” she reflected. “But this constant giving without inner self-worth has a dark side… you stop trusting, you close your heart,” added Krystyna grimly.
So when a couple of volunteers from Ithaca Welcomes Refugees greeted her with a simple question and statement, “What do you need? We stand with you. We stand with Ukraine,” something shifted inside Krystyna’s heart. Through consistent support from the IWR community, she learned how to receive help. “[IWR volunteers] became a bridge between my insecurity and stability,” said Krystyna with a sparkle in her eyes. IWR gave toys and clothes to her youngest daughter and helped the family navigate medical insurance. While Krystyna waited for her work permit, IWR helped her family access food banks in Ithaca. Without her having to ask, IWR volunteers would keep coming back to check on her and her children. “It was definitely a big chunk of practical help, but [it was] also something deeper. It was trust,” said Krystyna. It was this trust that paved the way for her to become part of IWR’s board of directors today.
Krystyna did not only learn how to receive help; she also learned how to give “not from emptiness but from abundance.” Compelled by a sense of belonging to something bigger, she started volunteering to translate and interpret with IWR for other Ukrainian refugees arriving in Ithaca. Later she joined an IWR planning committee. Last year, IWR invited her to join the board of directors, which she accepted. When asked about what this role means to her, Krystyna said, “I know that I’m important. They want me to be there. They count my voice. It makes me feel even more confident and rooted in this country, in Ithaca, and in this organization, in particular.” One particular poem that Krystyna wrote encapsulates how she sees her personal growth since arriving in Ithaca:
I Was a Giver
Krystyna Golovakova
She was a great giver, as women had been—
a teacher, a mother, a wife in one skin.
Wide-smiling, well-groomed, and she never complained,
with eyes full of sadness, her posture constrained.
She learned to keep busy from morning till dusk,
with school runs and shopping as everyday task.
The children, the house, the errands, the calls,
and a partner demanding attention through all.
She gave and she gave till her house turned cold,
her children were hungry, her clothes wore old.
But in a new country, with children in tow,
she planted her courage and watched herself grow.
It wasn’t so easy to change, and she cried,
old shadows of shame tortured her from inside.
Till she understood that the truest of art
is loving the universe by filling her heart.
She’s learned how to give and receive with a grace,
to share her talents while holding her space.
Her power is gentle, new freedom’s her right —
and each happy day is a poem of light.
Krystyna has learned that survival is more than just a simple act. For her, it’s the beginning of a new path and a point where one starts transforming. And she hopes to share that lesson with others. “My mission—as a writer, a mother, a teacher, and a board member of Ithaca Welcomes Refugees—is to help others rediscover their voices and see themselves not just as survivors, but as creators and leaders,” explained Krystyna. Additionally, Ukraine remains in her heart. “I want to make my country visible, not only through stories of war, but through stories of art, compassion, and renewal.”
