Szajda was born and raised in
Farmington, Connecticut. Szajda's maternal great-grandfather left Poland for
Chicago in 1912, two years prior to the outbreak of
World War I. He married Szajda's Polish grandmother, had children, and, after the war ended, moved to Poland. In 1964, the family moved back to the
United States, which is where Szajda's mother graduated from college and then returned with the family to Poland. In Poland, she met Szajda's father, and they had Szajda's older sister, Barbara, and two older brothers, Marcin and Adam. Following the introduction of
martial law in Poland in 1981, Szajda's family relocated to the United States. Szajda also has a younger brother, Phil. Growing up in the United States, his family spoke Polish and sent Pawel and his siblings to Polish-language school every Saturday. He was a Polish
Boy Scout. Szajda graduated from
Farmington High School in 1999. During his time at the school he participated in
track and field, was a state champion
wrestler, played
trumpet and was the
marching band drum major. He also played the title role in the play
The Foreigner by
Larry Shue. == Career ==