HDS communications reached out to our 2022 graduating students to hear from them in their own words about their experiences at HDS, the people who've helped and inspired them along their grad school journeys, and their plans for the future.
How I've Changed
I have learned that in most scenarios, rigor and tenderness work better hand-in-hand. Tenderness at the cost of rigor can make a person into a jello with no principles, and rigor at the cost of tenderness sends a person careening. But ideas and people that inspire both rigor and tenderness are worth holding onto. My time at HDS has provided many opportunities to do deeply critical, tender work, and enjoy both the shallows and depths of the people around me.
Memorable Moment
During the Religion, Conflict and Peace Initiative's January 2020 trip to Palestine, a storm hit Jerusalem at the same time as the international fallout over the American assassination of Qasem Soleimani. Our daily debrief session was tense and quiet while winds, thunder, and pouring rain kept our immediate context on our minds. Professor Moore said, "I hope, even in dark times like these, that we can see a little light." As she said the word light, the hotel power went out and everything went pitch black. After a beat, everybody burst out laughing together in the dark. This laughter would come back to me, as absurd tragedy led to absurd tragedy for the rest of 2020, and I still return to it today.
Message of Thanks
My parents and grandparents. It is crazy how often I would seek to learn something new and find myself actually coming to understand things they had taught me long ago. I'm grateful for all I have learned, and all I have yet to learn from what I have already been taught.
My brothers were my "classmates" for the middle year of my MDiv. I feel so lucky we could all go to class from the same house and learn together.
Each professor I have had has changed me for the better. Professors Ousmane Kane, Cornel West, Teren Sevea and Diane Moore deserve special shout-outs, as do Shaykh Yasir Fahmy and Reem Atassi, Hilary Rantisi, and Atalia Omer. Thank you all!
My divinity school friends have pushed me every day to think differently and be better. And together we have had so much fun! For many of us, our relationships are only just beginning. I cannot wait to keep loving you!