All the news that's blogworthy...

After over four years of blogging things of various levels of appropriateness in various places, I like to think that I've gleaned a lot from the online world. I've read about people who share both their name and the most intimate details of their lives with the entire internet, and people who protect their true identity at all costs. Professional blogs and smut, it's all there.

I have a lot of respect for the people who are willing to bare it all to people they've never met (even more so if they lead interesting lives), yet I equally respect those who feel that the risk is too great to take, that in order to be brutally honest, their name must remain a mystery.

I'm way too egotistical to not tell you who I am.

So here it goes: My name is Sarah, I'm 19, and I'm a college student in the Joint Program with Columbia University and the Jewish Theological Seminary in NYC. Despite spending the majority of my childhood in a northern suburb of Chicago, I've gotten very NYC centric this past year. Maybe it's because I've spent a good deal more time in NYC than I have in Chicago, but I like it better on the east coast. At least, for now.

Religiously speaking, I identify with the Conservative movement of Judaism. I'm active in my shul at home. Shabbat dinner has and will always be a staple in my life. I'm getting a degree from JTS in Jewish music (cantorial track), but it may as well be a degree in religious studies with a concentration in cantorial studies, with all the required classes I have to take. In spite of this, I don't identify as religious. However, other people must think I am, and that I'm completely crazy. Whatever, I'm sure they do weird things, too...like eat broccoli, or blowdry their hair everyday. We all do strange things.

At Columbia (no, not Columbia College in Chicago, a different one) I'm studying anthropology. That means I read a lot of books about other cultures (ranging from the South African colonial movement to AIDS in Brazil to the culture of the subway/metro) and write a lot of papers. It's absolutely fascinating. Most of the time, I don't mind all the writing, which is a good thing, I guess.

At the moment, I'm interning with JUF News in Chicago, writing articles for the newspaper as well as my new blog on Israel/Zionism, AltneuBlog. You should check it out if you like Israel. You should also check it out if you don't like Israel, and tell me what you think. As long as it's not racist, I promise to listen to what you have to say, especially if I disagree. The goal of AltneuBlog is to foster communication and make people stop and think.

When I go back to school, I'll continue with CUMB (Columbia University Marching Band--The Cleverest Band in the World), Wind Ensemble (CUWE), my woodwind quintet (I play French horn...and yes, that's not a woodwind instrument) and volunteering as a tour guide at the Central Park Zoo. (Note: I started working there during mating season...let me tell you, that was interesting!) Hopefully, I'll also be working at a congregational school as a Hebrew teacher's aide, and be doing other outside magazine work (but more on that once I get concrete information). Oh yeah, I'll also try to stay sane and try to not stay single. These last two are iffy.

I've been warned about the sophomore slump, and since I learned last year that I'm not special and I'm just like everyone else, it's probably going to happen. I might be emo, but I assure you, I'll be crazy as ever.

Before I forget: "Maven" is Yiddish for know-it-all. I thought it was fitting.

Aaaaaand that's a wrap!