In response to the query about whether the dangers of college campuses should encourage all day school graduates to attend schools like Yeshiva University, I shared a blogpost in which a student celebrated the fact that he attended a secular university, crediting it for many positive things.
I received an off-list email that pointed out the fact that there were online replies to the post that I shared. This is a good example.
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curiousjew.blogspot.co.il]
An excerpt:
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Attending another university would certainly have helped me to grow in a myriad of ways. That is what I realized when I spent a Shabbat as a prospective student at UChicago. I would likely have been deeply involved in Hillel, led my community in a number of ways, interacted with extremely brilliant individuals and learned assiduously and eagerly. But I would not have been able to make my way within the field of religious study with mentors and teachers who were role models in addition to fonts of knowledge. I know because I sat in on some Bible classes at UChicago and was disturbed by the mockery in each teacher's approach. I did not feel that the teacher needed to believe the Bible was true but I did feel it was inappropriate to mock a text considered sacred by so many, and of course by me. I also formed some of my closest friendships to individuals I met either within my YU environment or in New York. Additionally, I became exposed to what is beautiful in Haredi Judaism, something that would not have happened anyplace else.
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I guess that it is no surprise that different students find different levels of comfort in a variety of educational settings.
Alyssa
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/17/2016 11:38AM by mlb.
