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Reflections on my time at HU

By Benjamin Babins, Toronto

Throughout my time in high school, I was involved in my local Jewish community, running events through an organization called JYN (Jewish youth network) it was, at the time, a group of about 20 high school students who planned, organized and executed various events for the Jewish community. I worked with them throughout my 4 years ofhigh school, eventually becoming president of the student run organization. At the end of my time there, I was given a young leadershipaward which came with a round trip flight to Israel and a grant for any education I did while I was in Israel.

I took that opportunity to not just go for a short trip, but to do a full year of exchange.Having gone to Queen’s for Political Science, my priority was to get the best education in International and Israeli politics as I could. Combining that with the unbreakable connection that I, like many Jews have, with Jerusalem, led me to study at Hebrew U.

The thing that impacted me most from studying at Hebrew U was the professors. Having professors that worked in their respective fields for their whole careers, and then came to give a life’s worth of knowledge to the students who came to study is an experience unlike any other university experience I have had.

Learning from professors like Dr. Medzini and his wealth of knowledge and first hand experience in Israeli politics inspired me to make Israel, her history and her conflicts one of the focal points of my degrees back home. I have used what I learned from his classes at every opportunity I could throughout my Degree. That knowledge gave me a strong foundation and expertise on Israeli politics that few others have. Because of his classes I got involved in International and Israeli politics when I returned to Queen’s and it became a big part of my life on campus.

Learning Archaeology from Prof. Marva Balouka, although not my field of study, was enlightening and just simply so enjoyable. We got to walk through Jerusalem, a city of archaeology and immense history with someone who knew what was underneath every stone. When I had friends or family come visit me in Israel, I would take them on those same tours, step for step and do my best to retell the stories of Jerusalem’shistory as she did, trying my best to inspire them the way that she inspired me.

The specialized knowledge and personal first hand experience that all the professors at Hebrew U have gives them an intimate relationship with the subject matter. Those coursesweren’t just studies or published papers to the professors we had, they were the culmination of acareers work and the passion and energy and LIFE with which they taught gives you a different relationship with the material than any other classroom.

  • Ben is a Recruitment Coordinator at EY (Ernst & Young) in Toronto. He went on the one-year study abroad program at HU’s Rothberg International School in 2012-2013.