“I came from Syracuse as a transfer student halfway through my sophomore year. Hillel was extremely welcoming, and it was a great atmosphere to become entrenched in before I became a part of the larger Brown community. It was a very hard transition but having Hillel as a very open community to join was really helpful, and that community aspect was my first experience with Hillel. Growing up it was hard to keep Shabbat because Friday nights were baseball or soccer games and Saturdays were homework and I’ve had the same problem through college, but it’s been great to not feel pressure to be there for services on Friday but show up for dinner and keep the community. Hillel has given me people to rely on and become friends with, and it’s shaped my ideals and helped me realize what matters to me. I took a class on CS Lewis called “Beyond Narnia” and we explored christian ideologies in the context of the Narnia series. It made me wonder how a Jewish world would compare so I met with Rabbi Dardashti and we spoke about Jewish ideas on the afterlife. I was able to turn a class into something related to my beliefs and it even became an article in Mahberet, Hillel’s literary magazine. To me, Judaism is about the ideals and how they guide me, like helping your neighbor, community, tikkun olam (repairing the world), and that’s shaped a lot for what I've done outside of Brown. I work for Health Leads, working with children at Hasbro Hospital and helping patients find resources that could benefit their health. I feel like is an obligation that comes from being a privileged Jewish student on a college campus that I have the opportunity to give back in whatever way I can, and that’s been a tremendous opportunity.”
Next year Andrew will be taking time off to explore different fields and opportunities before pursuing a career in medicine.
Next year Andrew will be taking time off to explore different fields and opportunities before pursuing a career in medicine.