44 | FEBRUARY 10 • 2022 

M

y name is Mary Yousif. I am 
22 and am the first generation 
born in the U.S. to my family. 
I take on many roles within my daily 
life and community, whether it be a 
daughter, student, teaching 
assistant, volunteer, 
researcher or, most of all, a 
proud Israel supporter and 
advocate. 
Israel. There is no place 
that I’ve had as strong 
of a connection with 
than the state of Israel. 
I’m sure many of you 
are wondering “How did you become 
connected to Israel? When did it 
begin? How did you get involved in the 
community?” Let me begin by telling 
you about myself. 
Being Chaldean, I was raised among 
two cultures: my ethnicity and the land 
I reside in. Often, I felt that I didn’t 
fit into either community but rather 
roamed in-between the two cultures, 
striving to fulfill the roles of each side. 
Living in the U.S., we are exposed 
to a multitude of diversity around us, 

and I made it a goal to make sure that 
others didn’t feel left out or secluded 
the way I did. I become a part of the 
effort to bridge different communities 
together and take the time to learn 
about others — their cultures, their 
language, way of life, values and, most 
of all, their people. Hence, my decision 
to pursue my undergraduate studies in 
Spanish and medicine. 
I grew up in a pro-Israel family 
who always praised Israel and proudly 
advocated its right to exist. Ironically, 
I knew nothing about the country nor 
the people, and it wasn’t until my junior 
year at Wayne State that all that would 
change. 
Like many college students, I was 
involved in all sorts of organizations 
and held many leadership positions. 
At the time, I was the vice president 
of Wayne State’s El Club Hispano 
and secretary for the Honors Student 
Association. It was a crazy time, with 
school, work and extracurriculars. Who 
thought there would be more hidden 
along the way? 
During the fall semester, I received an 

email from an organization called Hillel 
of Metro Detroit. I had never heard of 
it before, and I was shocked because the 
email was inviting me to apply for the 
Maccabee Task Force Fact Finders Trip 
to Israel. I didn’t know what to expect, 
and I remember coming home that 
evening and telling my parents about 
it. Knowing of my involvement within 
other minority communities, they 
encouraged me to apply and learn more 
about the State of Israel, its people and 
better understand the ongoing conflict 
between Israel and Palestine. Little did 
I know that I would get accepted and 
that that trip was the beginning of my 
journey within this community. 

AN EYE-OPENING TRIP
Fact Finders was such an amazing 
and eye-opening trip for me! The 
speakers we had throughout our trip 
were so influential and furthered my 
interest in Israel. I wanted to learn 
about everything — the government, 
its position on a global scale, and its 
role in technology and medicine. My 
knowledge about Israel grew ten times 
and all the experiences that I had, I 
cherished. I wrote them down in my 
journal so I wouldn’t forget the most 
important time in my life. After the 
Fact Finders trip, I wanted to stay a 
part of the community and started 
participating in Hillel of Metro Detroit 
events at Wayne State. 
I attended Café Irvit lessons with 
Hillel staff, who taught me how to 
speak, read and write Hebrew. Every 
minute I had in between classes, I 
would go to our Hillel and immerse 
myself within the community I grew 
fond of. 
Everything happened so quickly; 
my involvement in Hillel grew and 
one thing turned into another. After 
Fact Finders, I was invited to go 
to Washington, D.C., to attend the 
AIPAC Policy Conference, and was 
even offered a position on the board 
for Students for Israel. We created so 
many events. One of my favorites was 

L’chaim: An Ode 
to Israel

Mary 
Yousif 
jewish@edu 
writer

ESSAY

Hillel of Metro Detroit students attend the Israeli American Council National Summit.

for college students 
by college students

