Engagement Stories 2003-2004

Hannah: I met Hannah b/c her mother works with my best friend in NY- the connection was made, and I invited Hannah out for lunch. Hannah is a really cool girl- she’s a sophomore, from Brooklyn, NY. We know some people in common- she’s super down to earth, etc. We talked about some ways to get involved at Hillel even though she’s never been “super religious”.

Naomi: I met Naomi last year when she was a freshman living in the Langdon. She attended a few Rosh Chodesh celebrations b/c her brother had married the sister of one of the student leaders. This year she came on her own to our first Women’s Retreat and expressed that she was unhappy at school this year. We had coffee last week, and discussed her plans to transfer, or if not, to study abroad next year. We talked about a few options in terms of how to be happier here right now. She’s living with a group of empowered Hillel students and I think feels a little intimidated by their involvement. However, she did come to Shabbat the following day! Later in the semester, she applied and was selected to be one of the Jewish Women's Initiative Interns.

Scott: Scott is a first-year student from Albany, NY who lives in the Langdon. I had run into him at Starbucks a few weeks ago and offered to treat him sometime, so we made plans. He is great! We talked about going to Phish shows over thanksgiving break, growing up in NY, missing bagels and pizza and Chinese food… He seems really open to getting involved, he “didn’t realize how much Hillel had going on” and seemed particularly interested in our major events

Lauren: I actually thought Lauren was a first-year when I asked her to meet me for coffee. She lives in Tripp Hall out in Lakeshore, and since I didn’t recognize her name, and her card was not fully filled in, I asked her to meet me thinking she was new to UW. Turns out she is a junior, from Highland Park, who has “tried Hillel” in the past and finds it to be cliquey and not so great. We talked about that a lot, b/c she has become friends with another student who transferred here last spring, and they come together and find they have a hard time meeting people. Lauren and I talked about how the Lakeshore Dorms work, and what kind of things we could do out there that would be successful.

Lindsay: Lindsay is a freshman from Mequon, WI. I met Lindsay at the Mem. Union as it was easier for her to get there w/ paratransit. She  told me a lot about her condition—Reflexive Sympathetic Distrophy, about her family, and about herself and her interests. She and I discussed a few different ways to make Hillel work for her in a meaningful and physically comfortable way- we discussed possibly studying Torah together once a week, doing more Liz Waters programming, and Kol Tuv.

Home     Engagement & Empowerment       Target Groups           Engagement Stories 2002-2003