Apr 8, 2008

Birthright and Graduate School Things and Stuff!

I'm going to the Great Debate up in Skokie tonight. The trek from Hyde Park to Skokie and then back home late this evening is going to be, well, less than fun. The mapping of public transit has been fun (not really) and I'm going largely because I need to meet a rabbi there face to face so he can okay that I'm a real, live Jew so that I can get the final confirmation on a Birthright trip. These are the hoops, and I'm jumping through them. The interesting thing is that even if I meet the rabbi, and even if he crosses the Ts and dots the Is, it doesn't guarantee me a spot. And that, well, that's frustrating. For those wondering, the event itself is basically a debate between a Republican and Democrat about who Jews should vote for. I figure if anything, it will definitely be interesting, and I feel for some reason that Hillary is going to come out on top (which, well, isn't who I'm voting for).

In other, perhaps more exciting, news, I sent in my acceptance to the University of Connecticut today. After visiting both campuses, I think my decision was made for me. I wrote up a letter to the University of Michigan explaining that them having no financial assistance completely deterred me from even considering them, which was unfortunate because that was the top cookie last year and when I initially applied this year. And Brandeis? Well, some things are better left just left alone. And that's okay. The sort of crappy thing now is that I have to start thinking about PhD programs, since, well, I'll have to apply for a PhD program in less than two years from now. Yikes. I suppose I should really hammer out what I want to study though. I cling to the Middle Ages, Rashi and his daughters and the legend of them therein. In fact, a friend recently e-mailed me about it and I was staunchly defending that the things surrounding Rashi's daughters is just that -- legend. The only widely known incidences of women openly donning tefillin from back in the day were King Saul's daughter Michal and a few other noble women.

Anyhow. The point is, I have a graduate school set up. Now I need to buy a T-shirt, get housing, get a meal plan so I can enjoy the feast of the Kosher dining facility, get hooked up with the Hillel, and, you know, other things along those routes.

I'm excited, I'm stoked, I'm ready.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Congrats on picking a grad school, how exciting!

Anonymous said...

Yes, congratulations, I'm sure that's a load off. And have fun at the debate tonight.

Sam

Aliza "La Jewminicana" Hausman said...

ooh, grad school. those were some fun times. good luck!:)

Carah said...

This Jew's voting Obama!!!

David said...

Mazal Tov! Sorry you're leaving Hyde Park just as I'm getting there...

Zohara bat Sarah said...

Which birthright are you going on? And why do you need a rabbi to sign that you are Jewish? (I didn't have to provide any documentation, they accepted me based on interview...and they knew my beit din had been less than a year prior AND in a different city and state than where I was living)

Chaviva Gordon-Bennett said...

Zahava,

It's through Aish, so they're (understandably) probably a little more strict about their standards, and I understood this when I signed up. I'm still waiting to hear whether the Rabbi I met (though I talked to his wife more than him) contacted Aish to say I'm kosher :D

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