Caravan for Democracy & AIPAC Policy Conference: Blog #2

Before traveling to Israel with Caravan for Democracy, I was earnestly skeptical in my support of the Israeli state. As a MENA minor, I have spent years studying the numerous human rights violations that Israel has committed against the Palestinian people. When I spent seven months studying abroad in Jordan, I lived with a Palestinian homestay family. The grandmother of my homestay family told me stories of when she was forced to leave her home in Palestine in 1950; she walked all the way to Jordan with her family. What is more, I spent my junior and senior year researching Christian Zionism in the U.S. and its subsequent impact on the livelihood of Palestinians hoping for a two-state solution.

Based on these experiences, I was adamantly against the political and military foundations of the Jewish state. This mindset started to change when I took the classes “Jewish Life & Thought” and “Jerusalem: Religion, History, and Politics” with Dr. Yudit Greenberg. Dr. Greenberg, a dual U.S.-Israeli citizen, taught me about concepts such as Jewish diaspora, global anti-Semitism, and the Jewish people’s historical claim to the land of Israel.

These classes, in addition to my time spent in Israel, showed me that the Jewish people have a powerful tie to their homeland that cannot be ignored. Nonetheless, that does not excuse the various atrocities that they have committed against the native Palestinian population.

Being a participant in the AIPAC Policy Conference helped me to mitigate my understanding of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. At the conference, I sat in on break out sessions regarding topics such as the BDS movement, the state of life in the Gaza Strip, and the military strength of Israel’s neighbors. I got to listen to distinguished speakers from both sides of the political aisle, demonstrating that their allegiance to Israel is truly bipartisan.

Caravan for Democracy & AIPAC Policy Conference: Blog #1

Last month, I had the privilege of traveling to Washington, D.C. for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) Policy Conference. The annual policy conference is the largest gathering of America’s pro-Israel community.

I was invited to the conference on behalf of the Jewish National Fund (JNF), whose goal is to facilitate constrictive dialogue about Israel and the Middle East on college campuses across America. This past January, I was selected to be a part of JNF’s Caravan Democracy Student Leadership Mission to Israel, a ten-day fully subsidized trip that provides non-Jewish American students with an opportunity to explore the Jewish and democratic state of Israel through meetings with political, cultural, and community leaders from diverse backgrounds and faiths.

During my time in Israel, I was able to collaborate with student leaders from around the United States. I also got to learn about Israel’s vibrant culture, Israeli-Palestinian relations on the ground, and several groundbreaking Israeli innovations in military technology, clean energy, and start-up technology. I was also surprised to learn that Israel has such a lively LGBTQ+ population, and even hosts one of the largest Pride festivals every year in the city of Tel Aviv. As an International Relations and Religious Studies major, with a concentration in Middle East and North African Studies, I was excited to travel to Jerusalem and be in a place so sacred to the three Abrahamic faiths. Getting to participate in the Caravan for Democracy Fellowship was a truly transformative experience, and it gave me a new perspective going into the AIPAC Policy Conference.

Phi Alpha Theta Conference Audience Experience

The Phi Alpha Theta Conference is a conference in which history students and professionals are able to meet and share their research with one another, in doing so, challenging arguments and providing critical feedback and support to enable continued development within the field.

This year the regional conference was held at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville. It lasted from around 8:00 AM in the morning until about 4:00 PM in the evening and included a number of different panels where papers were presented, key note speaker addresses and time to interact with other students. One of the things I enjoyed most about the conference was the ability it gave me to listen to other people’s research in topics I haven’t necessarily learnt about before. One topic that I found particularly interesting was that about the Salem witch trials as this is not something I knew about much before hand. Not only did this spark my interest in new periods of history and in new geographic locations, it also gave me insight into how other people conduct and write their research papers. For example, I didn’t think to include methodology in my own paper, however, after having heard a number of people do this in theirs, I think in future that it would be a good idea and would help to provide some background to the topic at hand.

I also enjoyed listening to the keynote address because it showed me a new dimension of history. Whilst I have always understood that history is extremely interdisciplinary, I had never thought about applying in the context that the speaker did: looking at addiction historically and how it has progressed in terms of psychology. This was something I found interesting and is another avenue that I would like to explore further during my time here at Rollins.

Presenting an Academic Paper

Whilst I have prior experience in public speaking, the thought of having to present original academic research in front of other students and talented historians daunted me. As with anything, the ability to present first depended on adequate preparation, something that was difficult to balance while maintaining classes, volunteering and work. This was something that was difficult but that I believe overall was a success.

One thing I definitely got out of this experience was better time management skills because I had to set myself self-motivated deadlines and adhere to these. We also had a practice within the department which was helpful in determining what to change, how to develop our presentation style and to shake some of the nerves in a more informal setting than that on the day. During this time, I realized how much I needed to improve within the space of a week; I read off of my paper without making audience eye contact, I didn’t print it with font large enough to read so I had to squint and I didn’t order my pages. From the feedback given, I was able to turn this around and by the time it came to the conference, I felt confident and ready to present.

I was in the first session of presenters and with that, nerves where minimal as I didn’t have too much time to let it sink in. The judge of our panel introduced us all and our paper topics before we began and I was surprised to learn that the majority of other presenters were seniors, juniors and sophomores, I was one of the very few freshmen. Whilst this was a nerve-wrecking fact, I felt like I did very well in my presentation by speaking clearly and with a good tempo. I also enjoyed the ability to answer further panel questions upon completion that were posed to us by fellow audience members.

Attending the ACS National Conference also granted me the opportunity to present my poster from the REU I participated in last summer at the University of Michigan. The poster session allowed me to further mature my science communication skills as I was required to explain complex information to a wide audience. However, the audience was also largely comprised of other medicinal chemists, which allowed the dialogue to also include challenging questions and collegial suggestions. Because of the size of the conference, there were also well-known researchers in attendance and I was able to meet some of them as they stopped at my poster. As a result, I was able to obtain advice on graduate school from them and attempt to impress potential research mentors.

There were not only respected professors from large research institutions, but there were also several attendees from pharmaceutical companies, which provided me a chance to speak with chemists in industry. I am relatively sure that my future lies in academia, but I am still intrigued by the work done in industry, so a conversation with those working at pharmaceutical companies was a useful experience.

I am hopeful that at the next Student Affiliates of the American Chemical Society (SAACS) meeting on campus, I will be able to share my experience with my fellow chemistry majors and impart some knowledge and wisdom on the underclassmen that have not yet had the opportunity to present at a poster session.

The first day of a conference is always the most overwhelming—people bustling from room to room, a giant schedule of events from which you have to rank the most important/interesting seminars and sessions, and a plethora of free stuff that you have to figure out how to carry.

Luckily, I was accompanied by some of my fellow chemistry majors and had the opportunity to be guided by Rollins professors, veterans of conferences of this scale. During the afternoon, I attended several medicinal chemistry oral presentations where I tried to absorb as much information as possible and connect it either to concepts I’ve learned in class at Rollins or to experiences and knowledge I gained last summer during my participation in a Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU). Later in the evening, I attended the Expo and Career Fair where I was able to interact with several representatives from industry as well as learn about the cutting-edge technology and equipment they provide to research labs. I also made a point to stop by the medicinal chemistry division mixer to meet and socialize with researchers in the field that I am most interested in. Finally, my group explored the general poster sessions for divisions such as inorganic, analytical, and biological chemistry.

It was amazing to realize how much I was able to understand during the poster presentations because of my preparation in my major courses. Day 1 was an overall success and I’m looking forward to presenting my own poster on Wednesday (04/03).

Entry Two: The Threat of Gaza to Israel

The Threat of Gaza to Israel was the title of one of the break out sessions I was to attend on Monday. It was about the conflict, and realistically how much damage Gaza could do. I had been looking forward to learning about it, however, Monday morning we woke up to the news that Gaza had fired a rocket 20 miles outside of Tel Aviv.

This theoretical discussion had suddenly become very real. Israel is one of the biggest moral conflicts I struggle with. I think about it every day, and I am at a loss of what to do. The Jewish side of me believes that Israel should have a state, that there is a long history of discrimination, and that there is no question on the matter. The human rights activist side of me has some serious issues with the country.

In the break out session, we talked a lot about life in Gaza. The strip is extremely over populated, left without any water, and half of the citizens are under 25. They live in unbearable conditions, and need to be treated better. They are lead by a recognized terrorist organization, and Israel refuses to negotiate with them. Additionally, Hamas believes that Israel does not have the right to exist.

There is no simple fix here, and there is no question as to why the rockets started flying on Monday. This oppression has to stop, but there is not a clear way on how to solve it. These conversations are so important to have, because the hypothetical situation can turn real very quickly.

Entry One: Christianity is Everywhere

When first traveling to Israel, I really did not know what the purpose of a Jewish state was. I am Jewish, I thought it was important, but I didn’t know what it meant.

When I got there, I realized I had lived my entire life accepting that I was different and I would never be given religious equality. I was blissfully unaware of the impact that had on my life. Yes, I realized that the section of Target was smaller for Hanukkah than Christmas, but it was never that big of a deal to me. Once I got to Israel, I was able to experience what it was like to be the religious majority for the first time in my life.

I was exited to go to AIPAC because I imagined that I would have the same feeling. For the most part, I did. I was in a place where almost everyone was Jewish, and understood the importance of Israel as well as recognizing the problems. However, I was still in the US. When walking into the convention center, one of the first things I saw was a giant cross. After spending more time at the conference, speakers and panelists talked about the importance of Israel for Christians, and Mike Pence said a Christian prayer.

This reinforced my ideas of why I believe in Israel, and why it is so important to find a solution. It made me realize that even in a room with 18,000 Jews, Christianity will still reign. Christianity is everywhere.

Learning From Others

When I wasn’t presenting my poster, I attended other poster sessions and panel discussions from other Rollins students and professors. On the same day of my presentation, we had our other students present their posters with the professors they worked with. Kaylee Atwell, a Rollins alum, did a paper presentation with Dr. Andrew Luchner before my poster presentation about her senior research from the previous year.

Jenny Goldsher was a research assistant for both Dr. Woodward and Dr. Harris on two separate research projects; one was about circadian rhythms in baseball players and the other was about people’s coping mechanisms on Facebook before Hurricane Irma. Kaitlin Snyder presented two posters, one of them being an extension of research about personality and compassion. Charlotte Leftwitch, Jessica Gonzalez, Dr. Houston and Dr. Harris had a poster exploring the construct of GRIT. Dr. Dunn presented a poster on her research in conjunction with the business department at Rollins about facial characteristics.

                                                          Jenny and Dr. Woodward at the 8:30-10:50 am poster session.

On Friday, Dr. Dunn, Dr. Luchner, Kaylee, Nicole Dunn (Dr. Dunn’s daughter) and Kaitlin spoke on a panel discussion about the challenges clinician professors face in the classroom settings and how to deal with them. They mostly spoke about the boundaries that they set with students, as students have a tendency to disclose information to them like they are their own personal therapists. This is an important issue, as it breaks ethical guidelines that professors have with their students. They spoke about setting boundaries right away with students and having them have space to talk about some of their issues. If they felt that they were unable to remain objective, they would speak with the student about going to CAPS or other services.

I learned so much about other research areas from my colleagues and I am excited for their future research!

Presentation Day

On 3/21, I presented my Honors in the Major senior thesis at the Southeastern Psychological Association (SEPA) with my professor/mentor, Dr. Rachelle Yankelevitz (Dr. Y). I have been working on every aspect this project since May 2018. There has been countless hours of hard work since starting this and I am so proud that I was able to present this to my peers, professors and other researchers at the conference.

What made this extra special was that my presentation was on World Down syndrome Day. The subject of my research is a 5-year-old from the Hume House with Down syndrome. To show support for the special day, everyone is encouraged to wear “silly socks” and/or wear yellow and blue. Dr. Y and I decided to wear our versions of “silly socks” and put a small sign on the poster about our support for the cause.

  Our “silly socks!”        I wore a pink sock with hearts on it and a Star Wars sock. Dr. Y wore dog socks!

Once we set up the poster, we took our shoes off so everyone passing by could see the socks. It was well received by everyone who stopped by the poster; they would see the sign, look down at our feet and smile or say “good for you.”

  Dr. Y and I in front of my poster.              I got ribbons on my badge that said “First time attendee” and “Poster presenter.”

The session only lasted 1 hour and 20 minutes, which went by fast! I spoke with current UCF psychology students, a researcher who was familiar with video modeling for children with autism, and other Rollins professors who were interested in my project. My main goal was to be able to say what my project was able in the most concise way possible. I reached that goal, as evidenced by the verbal reinforcers of “Very good/that is exactly how to say this” after I spoke with a person. Overall, I had a positive experience presenting my research!

 My poster                      presented at the conference and the sign that referenced our socks.