50-Years-Magazine-digital

Delivering Excellence for All in Israel 29 M. at a scholarship ceremony, August 2023: " I remember that afternoon when I climbed a tree in the yard of the house in the ultra-Orthodox anti-Zionist neighborhood where I grew up in Jerusalem, and I fell and broke my nose. My mother took me to the general health fund in front of the Histadrut building on Bnei Brit street in Jerusalem. I was only five years old, I noticed that the nurses and doctors seemed to me to be dominant, active and independent women, a sight I was not used to in my natural environment at those years. Even at that age, this sight seemed to me unusual and worthy of attention. The look went on inside me until the end of my twenties, I felt empty and understood that the best thing for me would be to go to study and from there my journey in the world of education and knowledge began. With the beginning of my studies at the OUI, at the age of 23, I immigrated from the Mea Shearim neighborhood to the Israeli society. My parents supported my decision to study, they understood my yearning for knowledge, but asked me to keep it between us, no one else was supposed to know, otherwise this could have ruined possible wedding matches for me and my siblings. I worked hard to finance my studies, I worked filling a place in a day care center, cleaning jobs in houses and cleaning stairwells and more. With all the difficulty, I was very fortunate to receive a generous scholarship. I really flourished at that time, my passion for knowledge opened up, I fed the intellectual thirst I had. Immediately after I finished my first degree, I started my Master 's degree studies in the combined MA and PhD track, I won scholarships and competitive awards. Through my education I feel empowered, a strong and independent woman, with an ultra-Orthodox identity that is not bound to the determination of external (community and educational) factors. My goal is to integrate into Israeli society and into an academic staff at one of the universities in Israel, and, with your help, I will get there. ”