Back Pain?
Neck Pain?
dispelled.”
Her time in Brazil challenged
Starkman to “approach other cul-
tures with compassionate curiosity,
awareness of my privileges and a
willingness to let go of judgment and
embrace the unknown.”
Wanting a meaningful travel
experience after college graduation,
Starkman said she became ener-
gized after attending the Wallenberg
Fellowship information session.
“I felt that Wallenberg’s spirit
and goals aligned perfectly with my
own and the work I had become so
engrossed in,” she said.
Her mentor, Professor Malcolm
Tulip, introduced her to Neha Bhat, a
U-M theater alumna in India.
“From there, the ball started roll-
ing,” Starkman said. “I created my
entire itinerary and proposal inde-
pendently, choosing which NGOs
[Non-Governmental Organizations]
and theater troupes to work with,
based on Neha’s suggestions and my
own research.”
Hundreds of U-M students apply
each year for the Wallenberg award.
Two from each campus school reach
the semi-finals before three finalists
emerge from just under 50 semi-
finalist applications.
Nine deans, provosts and profes-
sors from different schools ques-
tioned Starkman about herself and
her project at her finalist interview. A
week later, she was notified that she’d
won the award.
Starkman will begin her journey
this fall in Mumbai, India, and will
spend four months each in Bangalore
and Kolkata. In each location, she
will determine the accommodations,
travel, food and more.
“I will not have an interpreter or a
driver as I will be spending all of my
time in urban areas,” she said, noting
that the Hindi language classes she’s
started should help.
Tulip called Starkman, “the ideal
recipient of the fellowship, and that
she represents the Arts and the
Performing Arts, no less, is a tri-
umph! She has stood out as her own
woman since entering our program
four years ago.
“I have always appreciated
Meredith’s commitment to perfor-
mance but also her intense desire
to be a citizen, connected to her
communities: personal, local and
global.”
Upon her return, Starkman plans
to pursue a professional acting career,
probably in New York or Los Angeles,
and “explore ways I can integrate
activism into my art.”
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2083410
Save the Date……
Yad Ezra’s 26th
Annual Fundraising Event
Rachel and Jason Zimmerman
2016 Honorees
Wednesday, September 28, 2016
Strolling Supper and Short Program
Adat Shalom Synagogue
For more information,
call (248)
548-3663
Check us out online!
Dinner Co-Chairpeople
Molly and Aaron Chernow
Rachel and Josh Opperer
Bluma Schechter
www.yadezra.org
President
Sam Rozenberg
Feeding Hungry Jewish Families
2100190
May 26 • 2016
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