contents - Gallatin School of Individualized Study - New York ...

obert dolkowskiThe Sniffermy mother told everyone that, when I was a child in Poland, I was like adog because I smelled everything: new toys, new clothes, crayons, foodand people. I think my mother liked to make fun of me; I don’t remember thesesituations, but I remember some smells very well.My mother often baked cheesecakes. The smell of the vanilla and thesweetness filled the air. Now I’m addicted to cheesecakes; I bake them myselfevery week.I remember the terrible smell of fish when my proud mother fried it inoil. That is why I don’t like fish anymore.When I was seven years old, I was sick and I had to go for the first time tothe hospital. I remember the nasty smell of medicine, used gauze bandages andthe sick. I feel sick when I walk near a hospital and I think about that smell.Now, my sense of smell doesn’t work well, and I don’t have to smelleverything. Maybe I’m not a dog anymore—or maybe I’m just an old dog.Gaining Perspective117robert dolkowskiBorn in Poland, 43-year-old Robert Dolkowski has lived in New York for five years.Currently working as a painter, he studies at the Workers United Education Program.His teacher is Jackie Bain, and the site director is Nancy Lorence. Robert Dolkowski is“happy to be in the United States.”