After four years at KU Hillel, including her involvement with freshmen leadership and two different internships, Whitten-Vile expresses the vast impact Hillel had on her. “Hillel was such an important and impactful part of my college experience. My favorite part of Hillel was going on the Israel Leadership Mission trip with 12 other student leaders who quickly became my best friends. When we were in Ramla, some of us were lucky enough to stay with an older woman named Mazal and her son. The whole KU group loved Mazal and by the end of our short stay, Mazal told me that we had become like the daughters she never had. Every one of us cried as the bus rode away from Ramla.” Whitten-Vile also played an active role engaging other students at KU. She hosted numerous Shabbat dinners and fundraised for numerous non-profit organizations in Lawrence.
During medical school, Whitten-Vile hopes to study psychiatric medicine with an emphasis on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. “Since the Fogel family murders in Israel in 2011, I’ve wanted to work with trauma victims. This story opened my eyes to all of the traumatic experiences people all over the world go through especially in Israel” Whitten-Vile adds. Whitten-Vile has been to Israel a total of five times and is greatly looking forward to returning for an extended period of time. “Plus, I’m going to visit Mazal whenever I can,” she says.