Student Spotlight

Sydney Aaranson

ILM is not the typical touristy vacation. It combines volunteering, touring, and learning about Israel to give leaders a more intimate experience abroad. Overall, ILM’s main goal is for participants to gain leadership skills that they can bring back to their communities in order to lead in the future. The program brought Sydney and other Hillel leaders together in a new way -- where they could all gain inspiration by learning from one another.

“I’m a firm believer that a Husky bus trip is the best way to get to know others, and I learned a lot about the people on my trip, even those I was already friends with going into it,” Sydney said. “I learned a lot about myself as a leader and how I can best use my leadership skills.”

Read More about Sydney's experience on Hillel’s Israel Leadership Mission

Scott Albaum

"I had heard that Hillel and Chabad on campus were cool so I decided to try it and it just stuck," Scott said. "All of my friends always say 'Scott you're so Jewish,' but I've never really been super, super Jewish -- I think just the attraction of learning more about Judaism brought me back."

“All you need flour, sugar, water, yeast and oil. It’s very easy.”

While making challah is easy, starting up an organization on any college campus is not. But that’s what freshman Adena Leon set out to do at the beginning of this school year, starting KU’s very own Challah for Hunger chapter.

Max Gendler has always loved music. He’s always been around music.

“So, I guess music has kinda been my calling,” Max said. “I love music to death, I don’t know what I’d do without it to be honest.”

More Past Spotlights: Jonathan Bush, Becca Levine, Hannah Gilgus, Jacob Pellegrino, Micah Stiel, Nicki Stoller, Daniel Gewirtz, Melanie Edwards, Josh Kaseff, Evan Traylor, Haley Seldin, Samantha Agranoff, Zahava Davis