Name: Michelle Dardashti
Major: Innovative Projects (IPM) in “Religion and the Law”
Minor: Theatre and International Studies
Future Plans: Undecided

College is a unique stage in which we are each given an opportunity to reinvent ourselves... or to reaffirm ourselves. Leaving for the first time our families, as well as groups and clubs to which we’ve belonged all our lives we enter a realm in which there are no more givens. Eager to cast off old stigmas and obligations, we emerge as individuals… but are defined before long by the communities of which we become part. I was CIW-Michelle to some, the girl who sings soprano in choral to others, the one in the blonde wig in that play to yet others. But in nearly all my circles I was perhaps most famous for my reliable disappearance acts on Friday evenings.
Before I found my way to Waters Lobby in Fine Arts or even the bars downtown, I’d quickly (ok, well maybe not THAT quickly as those of you familiar with my sense of direction or lack thereof may know) learned the way through Newing and across the bridge to the house at 420 Murray Hill.
I was immediately struck by the way in which the Chabad staff managed to commit each new face and name that came through their doors to memory and to heart. In the midst of so much that was new and uncertain, Chabad provided the givens: a full house every Friday evening and a world-class chulent on Shabbat afternoon. And no matter how filled with auditions, performances, papers and exams my week was, I knew that on Friday I would come there and STOP.
My appreciation grows in seeing my non-Jewish friends marvel at the unique phenomenon of community inherent to Judaism that insures me a place at a table nearly anywhere in the world to which I travel. Having grown older, the novelty of Simchas Torah l’chaims may have grown thin, but the environment in which I enjoyed them is as compelling now as ever. The smiles and hugs and plenty of good-natured teasing lets me know that all is well with the world. It is a warmth I will take with me wherever I go.
College challenges our values and elucidates our priorities, but in the end dictates the roles we play in our encore.... I have no definitive plans to report for next year, in fact, I know not even in what country I will be, let alone what I will be doing there. But I feel secure in the knowledge that to whatever stage I travel from here, there will be Jewish community in which a meaningful role for me awaits.