My younger sister recently began her IDF service. She is currently completing various training components before she goes out to be a combat soldier until 2020… And yes, I'm proud and terrified in equal measure. Her training programme keeps her on base during the week, returning home to rest each Shabbat. She was therefore not at home when I arrived at my parents’ apartment on Sunday afternoon, having just completed a week unlike any other. I promise that my sister’s absence on that day will become relevant soon.

Last week, I had the pleasure of being one of 350 attendees at Summer U 2017 on the beautiful island of Lefkada, Greece. This trip was truly an incomparable experience.

Summer U is a week-long trip organised by the European Union of Jewish Students (EUJS) every year, bringing together Jewish people between the ages of 18 to 30, from all over Europe. To clarify, EUJS is the umbrella organisation for Jewish student unions of Europe, with their office in Brussels.

I am proud to work for UJS, the national representative body for Jewish students, supporting their social, cultural, educational, religious and political needs on campus. For the campaigns team, this first and foremost means ensuring the safety and welfare of Jewish students.

We are devoted to supporting Jewish students dealing with incidents of antisemitism, lobbying politicians, universities and student leaders on understanding the needs of Jewish students and providing training on the subject.

However, if we only talk about antisemitism then we have failed to do our jobs properly, because Jewish students are not defined exclusively by the discrimination that they face, nor for being Jewish. 

At last! The new academic year begins, and at UJS we are raring to go. An amazing new team accompanying me, the new President (exciting I know). The UJS office may have changed, but our commitment to Jewish life on campus has stayed exactly the same.

As we prepare for the UK’s 8,500 Jewish students to head to university in the coming weeks, I wanted to take this opportunity as your UJS President to share some thoughts about the exciting upcoming year on campus.

People often ask me how I got into the Fashion Industry, but the truth is I'm not sure I ever really had a choice in the matter. Having come from and been inspired by a line of tailors and dressmakers, 'shmutah producers' and fashion entrepreneurs, I've always felt as though it was honestly just in my blood.

The UJS team spent three weeks in a training period called Chazon, with one week spent in Israel to develop our knowledge of Israel Engagement, one of our core values. We did this through a number of different tracks, including social action, cultural, political, interfaith and Holocaust education.  

New year, new team, and we can’t wait to start delivering for Jewish students across the UK and Ireland!

It is really important to us that you, the students, know what we are getting up to and that we are fulfilling our commitment to represent Jewish students on campus. Over the next 12 months you can expect to see monthly ‘what have we done’ blogs from me, your President, to keep you updated on everything we’ve been up to.

So here’s a rundown of what’s gone on at UJS so far…

Excuse the slightly predictable pun in the title of this blog post, but I want to talk about getting high. Not the kind that you might be thinking, but literally high - physically up in the trees.

Despite being Treasurer of Bristol J-Soc in my first year, I only got involved with UJS because my J-Soc President at the time decided to go on the Bristol Students’ Union ski trip, meaning I was ‘encouraged’ to attend NUS National Conference in 2014.

I am so lucky to be able to write this at the end of the greatest year of my life so far.It is human nature to place others in boxes: it makes them easier to understand and predict their views, but over the last year as UJS President, I have learnt how damaging this can be.