Ali Nowak, a freshman at Ursuline, expected a regular physics class on Oct. 5. What she never expected was for her father to come out from the back of the class after being away for six months.
Ali’s father, Tomasz Nowak, has been in the Air Force for 12 years. He is a Judge Advocate General’s Corps and is a licensed attorney for the military. Nowak is a reservist, meaning he is gone one weekend a month and a few weeks throughout the year. This time, however, he was gone for six months in the Middle East.
Nowak reached out to Ursuline staff while deployed to plan a surprise for his daughter since he knew he would be arriving sooner than they anticipated. He surprised his daughter during her physics class on a Friday afternoon, coming out from the back of the classroom.
His family thought he was returning towards the end of October because he told them the Air Force was still determining how and when to fly him home.
“The main emotion I felt when I saw him was surprise. I was just not at all expecting him to walk into the middle of my Physics class! I was really happy; I missed him a lot,” Ali Nowak said.
After his surprise homecoming, the family relaxed together. “He was still super tired from his flight, so we just had dinner and watched a show together,” Nowak said. The next day they had a party to celebrate.
While away his family was able to call him a few times a week. “He still got all the news from us,” Nowak said.
Now that he is back though, the family is excited to spend more time together in person.
“We usually watch movies together and plan to go to the State Fair, so I am really happy he is here to do those things with me.”
Watch a video of the surprise below:
Video is courtesy of Ursuline Academy Communications Department.
THE BEAR FACTS 