Wherever I stand, I stand with Israel

I'm back from a string of trips, all of which were really amazing experiences. One in particular that I want to talk about first is my trip to the University of Maryland for Israel on Campus Coalition (ICC) National training. Usually I try to keep my pro-Israel advocacy off of this blog because that can get political, but in the last 3 days I had such an amazing experience that I just need to share this once.

This year I am one of ICC's Grinspoon Interns. There are 45 of us from campuses all over the United States and our job is to network with other leaders on campus to create a positive climate towards Israel.  At training there were 37 other students besides myself, and I don't even know where to begin in describing all the amazing people I met. This was my first conference-type experience. It is unbelievable how close you get and how much you connect with a group of people in just 4 days. The pro-Israel energy in the room was something I never had experienced before. A lot of the time when I give my little elevator speech to my friends I feel like a crazy, obsessed person. Seeing these other students with the same passion as me reassured me that it is not only ok for me to be this way, but awesome!

The WEST COAST BEST COAST regional cohort, led by the amazing Aviva. I swear, I'd love to be her when I grow up.

Becky from University of Oregon. We are planning some HUGE things for the Oregon area this year!

Adam from Loyala Marymount University. Kid looks basically just like James Franco. Not kidding.

Lovely Alisa from Baruch college. This is the little sister from Brooklyn I never had. (Possibly because I am not from Brooklyn...and don't have any actual sisters...jury is still out on that.) 

I cannot wait for this year to get going to and to start building bridges on campus to plan amazing pro-Israel events!