I am going into my last year at Â鶹AV pursing a double major in Political Science and Islamic and Middle Eastern studies with a minor in Social Entrepreneurship. I was excited about working with Rimon (formerly Impact) this summer because it allowed me to share my interest and knowledge about the Arab-Israeli conflict with others and facilitate engaging and impactful scholarship of the topic to others over the summer. Rimon aims to teach diverse, complex, and individual approaches to Zionism and the Arab-Israel conflict through individual learning, engaging discussions facilitated by educators, partner discussions, and lectures by expert speakers. As an intern, I worked with Benji Davis, the visionary and educator of Rimon, to recruit students as participants, begin fundraising efforts, handle most of the logistics of the cohort, and liaise with the expert speakers.
The highlight of my internship was seeing the first ever cohort of Rimon be such a success. I began working with Benji early on in his efforts to create Rimon and it was truly a privilege to watch how successful his curriculum was. When I was conducting post-cohort interviews of the students involved it was amazing to see how much they took away from the program and the follow-up projects they are each hopeful to pursue. For example, following the education she has received from Rimon, a participant from Australia wishes to create a podcast discussing the Arab-Israeli conflict. This really shows how successful the program was and the capability it has to have a future impact.
As I hope to pursue a career in security, specifically relating to security of the Middle Eastern region, I believe that this internship has given me the ability to acquire new knowledge about this particular conflict and has helped me to create a larger network of professionals in the field (for example an expert speaker was a colonel in the Israeli army). Additionally, the practical skills I have received through all of the logistics and planning that I was responsible for will be an asset for whatever I end up pursuing in life.
The funding I received for this internship truly allowed me to focus on the internship and fully immerse myself in it. This allowed me to not have to worry about my living expenses, which would have otherwise required me to find a paying job this summer. I would not have been able to grow and learn as much as I did in my unpaid role for Rimon, without the funding from this award.
Adapting to a remote internship proved challenging but for this internship ultimately it proved an asset. As the goal of Rimon was educating students, the virtual platform allowed us to create the greatest possible impact. We recruited students from not only North America, but Europe and Australia as well and were able to have speakers from Israel and Palestine address our international group with ease. The diversity of the group allowed for even more engaging and educational discussions as students came from numerous different backgrounds having their own unique experiences to add. Additionally, as my boss was in Israel, which is an expensive flight away, working remotely allowed me to still have the opportunity to intern for Rimon.
I would like to thank the members of the King family greatly for the Hinda Ordower King Award of Merit this summer! It was truly an amazing experience for me that will have a great impact on my future!
