![Emily Strauss](https://images.forwardcdn.com/image/center/author/cropped/emily-strauss-1490284275.jpg)
Emily Strauss is a senior at Pennsylvania State University.
Emily Strauss is a senior at Pennsylvania State University.
A version of this article originally appeared in New Voices. I saw women and men sitting across from each other at tables and sat on the ground in between to make my presence visible. It was awkward for all of us. Apparently the irony of a heteronormative speed dating event taking place next door to…
When I started college, I excitedly and optimistically began attending Hillel events. I had been raised in a proud, secular Jewish family with a rich intellectual and academic tradition. I was taught that to be Jewish was to read, learn voraciously, and question everything. When I graduated high school and went to Penn State, I…
A version of this article originally appeared in New Voices. I came out to myself, and my wider community, during my sophomore year of college. Hillel was the first organization I was involved in on campus, and before I ever entered queer spaces, I came out at my Hillel. The reactions made me reflect on…