黑料传送门 Scholarships

Knapp First-Generation Student Award Recipient: Lia Abuhsira

Author

Lia Abuhsira

Date

July 12, 2023

Throughout my gap year in Israel, I took the train weekly to Jerusalem for Hebrew lessons with my Safta, my grandmother.  

Safta鈥檚 family emigrated from Morocco to Israel during World War II, as antisemitic propaganda plagued northern Africa. The political and financial instability of that time meant that university wasn鈥檛 an option for my Safta. 

Although Safta鈥檚 education happened outside of the classroom, she innately understood the importance of formal education, and always encouraged me to pursue my academic ambitions. Throughout the years,  we would dream together of what I鈥檒l be able to accomplish with a college education, while she tells her neighbors all about how I will conquer New York City in a dark blue blazer and a fresh manicure. Her endless support of my lifelong passion for learning and education have inspired me to give back to her in a similar way: by studying Hebrew together. 

Every week when we sit at her kitchen table to study Hebrew together, my admiration for her grows. With each new word, letter, and step forward, I鈥檝e come to appreciate that life is truly a gift. Each day is an opportunity to learn, to grow, and to honor our freedom. 

In our most recent lesson, I told Safta that I would be attending Fordham University in the fall. She began to cry as she realized that our dreams over the years are becoming reality. We spoke about how I am the first woman from my father鈥檚 family to graduate high school, and will now be the first to attend a four-year college. Safta鈥檚 journey from Morocco to Israel gave me the opportunity to forge this new path for my family. 

This relationship with my Safta anchors my desire to pursue a college education – not just for myself, but for my Safta, my family, and for the women who will come after me.

Lia is an incoming first-year student at Fordham University.

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Hillel at Fordham University, the center of Jewish life at Fordham University Lincoln Center campus, serves a tight-knit Jewish community on an urban campus in Manhattan. At Fordham, Hillel offers Jewish learning and Israel education programs, leadership opportunities, coffee dates with Hillel staff and interns, and so much more! Hillel is a great way to make friends and find a community on campus. Plus, being a part of Hillel at Fordham also connects Jewish students to our other schools in Manhattan, coming together for off-campus events around NYC, shabbatons, conferences, and more.

Our mission is to enrich the lives of the Jewish undergraduate and graduate students at Fordham so they may enrich the Jewish people and the world. Hillel provides quality programming, student engagement, leadership opportunities and professional support to the Fordham University community in order to: promote the values of pluralism, tikkun olam, Israel, and the Jewish world so that students can develop significant relationships and meaningful Jewish experiences.

Hillel at Fordham is part of the Hillel at Baruch College, Inc. multi-campus umbrella, including Hillels at Baruch College, The City College of New York, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, Pace University, School of Visual Arts, Fordham University – Lincoln Center, Fashion Institute of Technology, The New School, and New York Institute of Technology.

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