As a 20-year-old Jewish woman, I take pride in my identity. I went to Jewish day school for six years, synagogue for high holidays and shabbat dinners at my grandparents’ every Friday night. This culture that I have grown up in makes me who I am, but it is also the part of me that I have become afraid to be.

Since I was little, I have been taught that I will be hated for who I am. To be careful about who I surround myself with and be careful about who I share my identity with. Over time, people like me have been hated for the line of people they have come from and the culture that we have inherited. I would ask my mom, “Why?” But I never got a satisfying answer, because there never was one. As a Jew, I am despised for being too successful, taking up space, being dirty, greedy, ugly and for so many other things. No one wants Jews to succeed. “For what reason?” is a question I ask myself every single day.

Since Oct. 7, antisemitism has risen to record high levels, levels we haven’t seen since the 1940s. It’s everywhere, and one place where it has run wild is college campuses. Students are harassed, doxxed and assaulted for their identity. Personally, I have known students who have been outed for being Jewish on anonymous platforms, causing room for angry people to have a person to place their hatred on. This is terrifying. 

One college campus where antisemitism has been an issue is at a college near Villanova: the University of Pennsylvania. The former president, Liz Magill, failed to answer questions that should have been no-brainers while at a hearing with other college presidents. She was asked if calls for the genocide of Jews would violate school policies. She could not answer. Why? Why couldn’t she say that calling for the genocide of Jews was bad and that the call would be bullying or harassment? Thankfully Magill resigned, but why were Jewish students forced to be put in this position? Why couldn’t she condemn the harassment and alienation of Jews?

After this hearing, questions kept me up at night. Why can’t my life be looked at the same as everybody else’s? Why can’t the safety of Jewish students be just as important as the person sitting next to them in class? Why, why, why? None of these questions have clear answers, and this has been an incredibly difficult pill for me to swallow. 

We just have to be okay with it. We have to sit back, watch and do nothing about it. At least that is what we are expected to do. I don’t want to do that anymore. I am tired of watching stereotypes run wild on the internet that have no basis for being true. I am tired of seeing Jews being assaulted, harassed and in some cases killed for wearing a kippah or a Star of David. I am tired of seeing hatred targeted at my Jewish friends and family members for not doing anything other than being themselves.

I am tired. But it’s not just me. We are all tired. We are all afraid. Nevertheless, I wear my Star of David to show that I am proud of who I am, and to show that my people are not going anywhere.