Alexandra (Alex) Winkelman

It can definitely be a bit scary, especially when you read about all these things that are happening on social media on different college campuses.

Personally, at the U of A, it hasn't really been an issue.  And we've actually had great community support in the Jewish community at U of A, which has been really nice.  There have been a few protests for Students for Justice in Palestine, which have been fairly upsetting, but I would say as a whole, U of A has done a really good job of making all their students feel safe, and I really appreciate that.

But scrolling through Instagram and getting all these WhatsApp messages can be really scary.

I was raised in a Conservative household; both my parents are Conservative Jews.  All of my grandparents are from Poland.  Everyone came over during the Russian pogroms of the late 1800's, so we've been in America a long time.

I grew up going to Hebrew school every Sunday.  I had a bat mitzvah.  I would go to Camp Ramah in California every summer; I absolutely loved it.  I went to Israel for a gap year with Netiv, and now I'm president of the OLAMI chapter of U of A.

Rabbi Weiss of OLAMI at U of A told me about it.

To be honest, it seemed like an easy $15, and as a broke college student, it's very helpful.

Honestly, I would not have done The Podcast Fellowship without the stipend.  I already have some regular Jewish learning; I go to Modern Matters once a week.

I really like meeting with my mentor, Risa Brumer, every week.  Discussing the podcasts with her is a fun part of my week.  I feel like I learn a lot and they're usually positive.  I definitely enjoy being able to talk about something more positive and less stressful than school (laughs).

I listen to a lot of different podcasts; I don't have a specific type that I listen to.

The very firsts podcasts I listened to were the 'Habits of Happiness' course.  I think it's a 7-episode course.

I really liked that course; it wasn't too intense of a podcast and it gave me insight I could apply to my everyday life.  I also thought that it provided a lot of insight into how Judaism can relate to a topic that you don't necessarily think is Jewish, but then, once you start learning, you realize how much it actually does connect.

TPF has helped me grow in that I've learned how every little thing in my life is connected to Judaism, even the things that I wouldn't think are (connected).

When I'm with my friends, sometimes something will happen and I say, "oh my gosh!  I just listened to a podcast about this!" and they say, "oh my gosh--not again, Alex!"

I've learned that there's so much that happens in my life that is connected Jewishly that I wouldn't have thought about before.

I still consider myself a Conservative Jew.  I've definitely grown a lot Jewishly in the last two years, some from The Podcast Fellowship, some from my gap year in Israel.  I now keep kosher (for the most part).  I don't do any homework on Shabbat.  I go to Shabbat dinner every Friday.

The podcast is a good way to remind me weekly of these Jewish values, so I think it will help me continue to grow.

"As a college student, I'm very busy.  These podcasts remind me that you're never too busy to learn about Judaism."