Successful Freshman Year

Hi readers! Time for a much needed update. I successfully completed my freshman year of college! It really flew by, but I'm proud to say that it was a phenomenal year. My first semester finished up nicely as I finally got acclimated to college living. I did well in all my classes and got involved in some great extracurriculars. I go over more about my adjustment to college in this previous blog post.

During my second semester, I took the following classes: 14th to 18th Century Literature, Policy Making in America, Advanced Spanish, and an introductory biology class. The English class is a prerequisite for majoring in English, which has always been my plan. However, I often found myself frustrated in that class because I didn't love the source material and there was such a heavy focus on close reading. I realized my passion of writing about literature stems from analyzing themes, characters, and connections, not just focusing on a sentence or two. I know I can't base my major off of just one so-so class, so in the fall, I'll be taking The Novel Since 2000, which sounds way more interesting to me.

If I don't major in English, I plan to major in politics. My politics class this past semester was super interesting because it gave me insight into the modern political process. My favorite part of the class was when we did a whole policy simulation about immigration policy where everyone had a role in the legislative branch, executive branch, interest groups, or the media. I was a pro-immigration interest group, which meant I got to try to influence the legislative process of coming up with an immigration bill when real Congress can't!

I finished my language requirement with my Advanced Spanish class. I enjoyed college Spanish more than most high school Spanish classes because it focused on culture and literature instead of just grammar and vocabulary. I feel like now I have a greater appreciation of the Spanish-speaking world. My last class was a biology class that I took for my lab requirement. I actually loved the class, partly because one of my best friends at Princeton was my lab partner and partly because of the amazing professors. Even though this class was for non-science majors, one of my professors won a Nobel Prize! He taught us about the experiment that made him win the prize. I even got to watch cells divide in front of my eyes on a laser microscope right by his side.

Outside of class, I continued to write for the Daily Princetonian. I definitely feel like my writing skills improved thanks to the amazing editors. I even got to interview Princeton alumna Ellie Kemper class of '02! While interviewing a celebrity was awesome, my favorite part of writing for the newspaper is learning about the amazing events and people of Princeton. I also advocated for girls' education with Princeton Girl Up and expanded my Jewish knowledge with the Jewish Learning Fellowship at the Center for Jewish Life (CJL). I even saw To Kill a Mockingbird and Dear Evan Hansen on my residential college’s discounted Broadway trips!

I also continued to strengthen my relationships with my amazing classmates. From eating at late meal to attempting to study together to dancing at an eating club to just talking in my room, I feel so fortunate to have found such a supportive and inclusive friend group. One of my favorite memories from this year is planning a Jewish Disability Advocacy and Inclusion Month Shabbat at the CJL and seeing all my friends there to support me. The CJL was another great source of support this year, so much so that they embraced my idea to plan this Shabbat and helped me turn my dream into reality. The Director of Disability Services and I both made a speech, and it meant a lot that my friends showed up. It meant even more that my dad drove up and surprised me that night as well!

On the topic of disability, this summer I’m interning remotely for the Center for Disability Rights, a New York-based disability advocacy organization. I’m learning so much and gaining such valuable skills in a career I aspire to pursue. I’ll write way more about this in a separate blog post. My internship is not the only cool thing I’m doing this summer- in two days, I leave for a Birthright trip to Israel for young adults with disabilities! Later in July, I’m going on a family vacation to Montreal and Quebec. I’m really looking forward to these international adventures! At home, it’s been so nice to spend time with my friends and family who I miss during the school year.

As I’m writing this at home, there are many things that I miss about Princeton. I miss my friends, of course. I miss some of my classes more than others. I miss the beautiful campus, especially my favorite chair in Chancellor Green library. Most of all, I miss the excitement and passion that surrounds me every day on campus. There’s always so much going on, from speeches by acclaimed professors to fun student-planned events, and I feel extremely fortunate to be there. Freshman year really exceeded my expectations in so many ways. I had amazing accommodations for my disability-related needs, made such close friendships so fast, and had such engaging classes. I can’t wait to see what the next three years inside the Orange Bubble have in store for me!

First Two Months of College

It's kind of crazy to think about how a year ago today was the Princeton early action deadline. Now, I'm two months into my freshman year! I've been so busy that this blog was temporarily abandoned. I hope to change that, as I know these next four years will be the most important and interesting years of my life so far. I actually have time to update you all tonight because I'm on my fall break. While I'm glad to be be home and see my friends and family, I miss being on campus as well. I've had such an amazing two months at Princeton. I don't really know how to summarize it in a single blog post, but I'll try my best.

My college experience started off with a jam-packed orientation. Every incoming freshman does a small group orientation trip to get to know other students and transition into college. I can say without a doubt that my closest friends at Princeton are from my small group. I don't need to list them out, because they know who they are. Everyone on the trip was valued and appreciated. This inclusive environment carried over to Princeton as a whole. I am amazed by the friendliness that I encounter anywhere I go on campus. One reason that I was so sad when I graduated from Camp Simcha Special was because I thought I would never be in such a warm and welcoming place. I'm grateful to have found a similar environment at Princeton. I am so glad that I ended up at a small school, because I run into people I know pretty much any time I go somewhere. Even though I do have a single, I make plans for meals or find friends in the dining hall. The other freshmen who live in my dorm are so nice and fun to be around. They also help me when I need it. One time, I was messaging with a friend who lives down the hall when suddenly I spotted a spider in my room. I messaged her "SPIDER" and 30 seconds later, she was already in my room with a paper towel in her hand. I'm lucky to have met such awesome people at Princeton.

While the people are amazing, sometimes I need a little time to myself. That's when I go to my room. I have my own room and it is perfectly set up for me. There's plenty of space for my wheelchair, a backup electric wheelchair, and a manual wheelchair, plus my various respiratory machines. I have my own bathroom that is almost the same size as the other part of my room! I have been impressed by the Office of Disability Services and their ability to accomodate my needs. There are some parts of my campus that are not wheelchair accessible, such as my friends' dorm that has two flights of stairs and no elevator, but I'm starting to learn the best routes for me to take. If a class is in a building that isn't accessible, the whole class will be moved just for me.

I guess I should talk about class a little, since that is the whole point of college. I'm in four classes: intermediate Spanish, introduction to moral philosophy, a mandatory writing class, and a freshman seminar about disability in literature. My biggest class is my philosophy class because it is a lecture, but the rest of my classes have twelve students or less. I love having more opportunities to interact with the professor and other students. The literature class is definitely my favorite because it combines my interest in reading and learning about disability studies. I like all of my classes and all of my professors are fantastic, but I do have a lot of work. I'm still learning how to manage my time. It's a lot different than high school since I'm in class for so much less time. Of course, if you know me, you know I keep myself busy.

Outside of class, my biggest extracurricular is writing for the newspaper, the Daily Princetonian. It's a huge commitment, but I really enjoy it. So far I have written four articles, two by myself and two with other reporters. One of the articles I co-wrote was about Ellie Kemper's speech at a conference for alumni. I got to meet her and talk to her for ten minutes, and when I commented on her Instagram picture, she followed me on Instagram and commented on my picture of her! My last article was one I wrote by myself and it was the big cover story. It was such a great feeling to see my name featured so prominently on the cover. I also am involved with the Princeton chapter of Girl Up, the club that I co-founded a chapter of in high school. I go to most Friday night Shabbat dinners at the Center for Jewish Life. There's a great Jewish community here, which I really appreciate. When I'm not in class or at a club meeting, I love just hanging out with my friends. I took a trip to see Frozen on Broadway with my residential college, which was super exciting. There is always so much happening around campus that sometimes I get overwhelmed.

I know this post is really long, but a lot has happened in the past two months. I am so glad that I am at Princeton and I look forward to seeing what the next four years bring. Go Tigers!

Camp Simcha Special

Words can't even describe how much Camp Simcha Special means to me. I started going when I was 14 years old, and this year, I graduated from the camp. Camp Simcha Special, a project of Chai Lifeline, is for Jewish girls with physical disabilities, although they also run a session for boys with physical disabilities in addition to sessions for boys and girls fighting cancer. I feel very fortunate to have been able to attend such an amazing camp, so I want to attempt to share what makes this place so magical.

For two weeks for the past five years, I got to live in a community where no one judged anybody else, where differences were embraced and celebrated. Every camper had a unique story, but they could all empathize and relate to each other's challenges. I made some of the best friends I could ever have from this camp, amazing girls who live all over the world, from New York to Colorado to California to Canada to England to Israel. There were many different and interesting workshops in camp, such as pottery, candlemaking, arts and crafts, canvas painting, and baking. We also had special activities, ranging from adventures like riding a motorcycle, speedboat, and helicopter to cool shows like an illusionist, pro basketball players, and French acrobats. One of my favorite days was when hundreds of supporters of Chai Lifeline bike 75 miles, with the finish line being camp. My counselor from last year did it, and I was so happy and proud of her when she completed the bike ride. Then we got to dance, which also happened at every meal. Every day was different and there were always plenty of surprises. The theme in camp this year was Simcha 365, so each day was a different holiday. On Black Friday, the oldest divisions received a surprise wake-up at 5:15. In true Black Friday tradition, we were at Walmart at 7:00 am and made it back in time for breakfast at 9:45. I didn't find it funny at the time, but now I can look back at it and laugh.

Even though there were lots of planned activities, some of my favorite moments in camp were the unplanned ones. I spent time stargazing on a chilly summer night, sat on the comfiest couches ever while learning about my friends' diagnoses, relaxed in the library, had fun making my friends laugh while preparing and performing in the play, and just enjoyed being with some of my favorite people in the world. Saturdays were full of relaxation because it was Shabbat, the Jewish day of rest. I had hoped to use that time to catch up on sleep, but when I woke up earlier than most of my bunk on both Saturdays, I went to the boardwalk by the lake and read by myself while enjoying the beautiful scenery and reflecting on how lucky I was to be in this camp. My favorite night in camp this year (which also happened to be the night before the unexpected Black Friday trip) was spent on the hammocks underneath the fairy lights until midnight with one of my friends as we discussed our time in camp, our hopes for the future, and our multiple inside jokes that should not be shared on a public forum. The memories we created were worth the four hours of sleep that we got.

I want to thank my awesome counselor, who made me smile when she got equally excited while dancing, racing me up a hill, or telling the Hanukkah story. I also want to thank my fantastic bunk C1, which will always be #1 in my heart, as well as my fake bunk B2 for being pretty cool too. I am so lucky to have made such amazing friends who make me laugh, make me smile, inspire me, and support me no matter what. The happiness that I gained from camp will stay with me for the rest of my life. My five years in camp truly meant the world to me and I am so incredibly grateful for my time in Camp Simcha Special.