I’ve watched campus life shift over my degree

My first day of university was full of trepidation. Growing up in a Jewish community, I had heard many stories about antisemitism on campus — lecturers silencing Jewish voices and students verbally abusing their Jewish peers. 

I was prepared for anything. But nothing happened. Campus life was quiet, and nobody seemed to care about the Middle East. I walked around wearing my kippah and a chamtzah necklace, openly discussing my religion and trips to Israel. I made friends and actively participated in campus life. I felt safe. The stories I’d heard growing up felt like outdated warnings. 

As a second-year student and secretary of AUJS at Macquarie University (AUJS MQ), I began to feel tensions around being a religious Jew on campus. 

At the student hub, I would talk with friends about Jewish holidays. Once, before class, I explained Purim by drawing stick figures with crowns on a whiteboard already filled with sketches. After class, I returned to find my drawings erased. A friend told me someone had wiped them off, saying they made people uncomfortable. My stick figures were stains to them. It was the first time I sensed my identity clashing with campus life.