Uncertain Times

By Daniel Oren Stalbow
Macaulay Honors College at Queens College

Before every semester, it is inevitable to get the jitters at some point. There are new professors, classmates, and roommates, and with all these things bombarding you comes a sense of uncertainty. Will you have a good professor? Will you have a good time? Will you have a lot of work? It is a scary feeling. We try to make the most of our new situations and to prepare as best we can, but ultimately we cannot predict what will happen and we cannot prevent the bad things from occurring.

Unfortunately, these feelings of uncertainty are very familiar to the Jewish community. The future of the state of Israel is in the balance. Rockets are constantly bombarding southern Israel and Hamas is threatening to fire further into Israel's territory. The Palestinian Authority is planning on declaring statehood to the United Nations in September, which would have vast repercussions for the State of Israel. The political positions of Israel's neighboring countries are also not so clear-cut. On top of all of that, Iran is looming over our heads.

At Queens College's Israel Student Association, of which I am treasurer, we are facing these realities and combatting them with action. We are planning events that will educate the community around us about what could happen if the situation in the Middle East turns for the worse.

Just like we at Queens College are preparing to deal with what might happen in Israel through awareness and activism, as students entering a new year, we cannot sit by and wait for the good times to roll around. We must instead be proactive and make the best of whatever situation may be at hand.

Daniel Oren Stalbow is a sophomore at Macaulay Honors College at Queens College, with an intended neuroscience major. He is involved in the Zionist community on campus and is the treasurer of the Israel Student Association.

[Posted 8/30/11]