Posts

Dear Uni

Dear Uni, I first met you when I was just a 14 year old trying to find a new home. I had just moved to Champaign the previous summer, went to Next Generation middle school for one year, and still felt like I belonged in South Bend Indiana and not here. You welcomed me with open arms but did not accept my twin brother (sorry Isaac). It was weird starting an adventure without him but you helped me through it by introducing me to all the wonderful people who I call my friends. Our relationship started off with a somewhat shaky start. I did not expect the workload that you threw at me, also your friend Kenney Gym’s fitness sucks. Although sometimes I struggled, you never left me behind. Your warm atmosphere and closeness guided me to talk to my teachers and figure out a plan for success. You were kind enough to give the subbies their own floor where we played countless hours of FPS video games, laughed and studied. Soon enough you released us from our Uni Period study halls, and let us exp
12 comments
Read more

Is God Real?

Let me start off with a couple of things. First, I don’t believe in God. I think that God is something that people a long time ago made up to explain the unexplainable. Second, I am Jewish. It’s pretty ironic that even though I don’t believe in God I am extremely involved in my Jewish community and serve as the Religous and Cultural President of the Chicago area region in my Jewish Youth Group. I am an atheist but am still very Jewish if that makes sense. I think about the idea of God a lot and just wanted to write this post to share some of the topics I think about with y’all. My first question is if there is a God then why in the world is there so much hate and evil in the world? Where was God during the Holocaust? Where was God during the mass shooting in Las Vegas, Parkland, or Orlando? If God has the power to create the world and has the power to answer our prayers then why doesn’t God just eliminate all of the bad aspects of the universe? Couldn’t we all just live in a utopia whe
7 comments
Read more

Just relax

Image
Those who know me well often ask me “Ethan how do you stay so calm? I literally never see you get stressed.” For those of you who don’t know me as well, you have probably heard me yell something along the lines of “Don’t worry! It's going to be easy” or “Just relax!” In this blog post, I will highlight some of the tips and tricks I use to survive Uni. One of the most important things I have learned is to work efficiently. Not everyone learns the same way. I personally like learning just by listening to someone lecture or watching a video. Other learn well by rewriting their notes or doing lots of example problems. No matter what your learning method is you should find it and use it effectively. Once you find a method of learning that works for you, you will find yourself spending less and less time studying tests and doing homework and your grades will shoot up! Once you have figured out how to work efficiently you should learn how to prioritize your responsibilities. Every single
8 comments
Read more

Why Guitar?

The first word that comes to mind when many of my close friends think about me is “guitar”. I have been playing guitar ever since I was in first grade, and I can’t remember life without it. Guitar has become such an integral part of my life that I can’t even imagine what I would do without it. I’ve had people ask me “Ethan, why do you like to play guitar so much?” This is my answer. My guitar is the best therapist I know. Whether I am sad, happy, excited or nervous guitar never fails to make me feel better. There is nothing better than jamming out to Livin on a prayer after you get an A+ on a math test, and I have found that playing a soulful rendition of Fix you is very calming after a hard day. In some ways my guitar is like a good friend. Always there when I need it no matter what I am going through. What is so amazing about guitar is that it has the ability to bring people together. I went to a summer camp for seven weeks two years ago and there I met a girl named Ella. We did not
6 comments
Read more

Coincidence

Have you ever experienced a series of coincidences to the point that it freaks you out a little bit? In August I went to a Jewish leadership retreat in New York State targeted at Jewish teens from all over the country who are involved in NFTY (North American Federation of Temple Youth). The retreat was a ton of fun and I learned a lot about how to be more effective in my role as a regional board member, but it was the trip back to the airport where the coincidences began. When I got onto the bus I scanned the seats and spotted my close friend Hannah. Hannah and I spent the entire ride laughing and catching each other up on our lives, and at one point I briefly mentioned that I am taking a flight from Newark to Boston and then taking another plane from Boston to Chicago. Then coincidence #1 happened. A girl sitting across the aisle said that she was also going to Boston. I then asked what flight she was taking and she was taking the exact same flight as me. We were the only two people t
9 comments
Read more

Where's our car?

It was a typical Christmas morning in Orlando Florida. Since I am Jewish I never had a very strong connection to Christmas, but I have always enjoyed the festive music, cheesy movies, and happy atmosphere that surrounds me everywhere. Also, a fun fact is that oftentimes flights are cheaper on Christmas day because many people want to spend time with their families instead of wasting their day at the airport. So, just like always, my family and our friend Yael headed to the Orlando airport and boarded our flight back to Indianapolis. That is where this story begins. While we were flying my mom asked my dad if he booked a shuttle from the Indianapolis airport to the hotel where our car was parked. Pause. Rewind. Before our trip to Florida, my dad dropped my family and Yael off at the airport then parked our car at a hotel, and then proceeded to take a shuttle to meet us back at the airport. Pause. Fast Forward. My dad, being the laid back one in our family, said not to worry about it and
7 comments
Read more

Auschwitz

Image
There are moments that put everything in perspective. It’s a feeling nobody can really describe, and personally, I didn’t really believe that those moments exist. I have been in school for 12 years and have had countless experiences but nothing can really compare to how I felt when I arrived at Auschwitz. I arrived at Auschwitz early in the morning because tickets are always hard to get in the summertime. It was an excruciatingly hot day, and I could already feel the sunburn forming on the back of my neck. We went through security and started walking to the entrance of Auschwitz. The eerie feeling I felt is unexplainable. I remember walking in silence, alongside the barbed wire until I reached a giant gate that read “Arbeit Macht Frei” or “work sets you free”. A feeling of anger and disgust filled me as I stepped into the camp. Everyone learns about the Holocaust in school, and everyone sees the statistics of the 10 million people that were murdered and the 72 million tota
4 comments
Read more