Shabbat Shalom

So after my first Shabbat, I met with one of the Hillel rabbis to tell him what my deal was and, basically, to make sure it was OK for me to come to Hillel. He asked me about my past religious experiences and about G-d, and how He factors into my life. I told him some of what's written in this blog, and as for G-d, I relayed an experience I had in the middle of my freshman year that made me change my major instantly.

 I have been planning to become a teacher since I was 16, but it was always as a high school English teacher. During my freshman year I tutored in an inner-city middle school in English and in Math. Then one winter day, one of the boys, Micah, just looked at me and said "Why don't you come here every day?" And to me, the question wasn't just limited to Micah and his class. The question was "Why don't you teach math every day?" When I got back to campus I went straight to my adviser's office, got a math content worksheet, and I haven't looked back. How can I think that moment, that question, was anything other than a sign from G-d?

The rabbi said "Wow," and nothing else for a minute. I don't know if he was shocked, impressed, or confused, but I felt the conversation change after that. I think he took me a little more seriously after he realized I wasn't kidding about believing in G-d and needing to do something with that belief. But then he said, "Now is a good time to also think about your own religion..." (how typical). That's when I explained to him about my trial period with the college church and so I'd already done that. Besides telling me he doesn't do conversions as a college rabbi, he didn't try to deter me any further. As far as the conversion statement, I was perfectly fine with that. I wasn't ready for any more major changes in my life. Later, he emailed me a list of 3 books on Judaism, which I have read most of each since then. (The books are listed at the bottom of my blog, btw.)

After my conversation with the rabbi, Shabbat just eventually became a part of my life. I got excited for it, I looked forward to it, and I was sad when it ended. I made a new friend (or two) every week at Hillel. Eventually, I found an awesome group of friends there. They teach me about Judaism but that's not all. They're not just my Jewish friends, they're my friends. And I'm so happy to have found them.