Originally from Brooklyn, New York, Kayla graduated summa cum laude from Binghamton University in 2025 with a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy, Politics, and Law and History. Throughout her undergraduate career, Kayla was heavily involved on campus, including being a senior tour guide and a residential assistant. When it came to academics at Binghamton, Kayla chose to focus her studies on Eastern European history, with a particular emphasis on World War II and the Cold War. When given research paper assignments, she wrote papers about topics ranging from Hollywood films during McCarthyism to the Catholic Church’s involvement in the fall of communism in Poland. Since Kayla is a first-generation student, her passion for Eastern European history comes from her familial history from the region, as her family originates from Poland, and she still has immense ties to her family history.
Over the summers, Kayla interned at a personal injury law firm in New York City, where she conducted legal and genealogical research. She was often tasked with researching how medical procedures should be properly performed, reviewing medical records, police reports, and legal transcripts. When given genealogical research tasks, Kayla was able to utilize different online sources to locate both deceased and living relatives, creating a family tree for the client. Tasks like these sparked Kayla’s interest in personal histories, as she often discovered records of immigration among these family trees, and wondered what their experience was like. Though Kayla’s work and research experience were largely focused on law, her true passion lies in history, especially when it comes to individual stories.
Kayla is excited to join the MA/MSc program, and hopes to conduct research that intersects film, personal history, and Eastern European history during and after World War II.
