Fellow:Jules Gerstein


Name Jules Gerstein School (Cohort) University of North Florida (2020 cohort) Majoring in Social Work Country United States of America Email Special:EmailUser/Jgerstein

Bio

An undergraduate sophomore student who plans to major in social work and minor in leadership. I am interested in building bridges among different communities and using my voice to advocate for micro and macro-level change. I can trace the desire to create a career out of giving back to the first time I volunteered at a homeless resource center in high school. It first started as a graduation requirement to gain community service hours, but I found genuine happiness and satisfaction in this type of work. I identify as Jewish and currently serve on the Better Together Leadership team at the UNF Interfaith Center. We help plan events and create an inclusive atmosphere for religious and non-religious students on campus. I love participating in interfaith dialogue and political discourse because I enjoy learning about the different perspectives of other people. Through volunteering and holding student leadership positions, I have gained communication, public speaking, and critical thinking skills. Having these skills has not only helped me build my confidence in myself as a student and future employee but has also helped me strengthen my relationships with myself and others. My favorite part of being a college student at UNF is that for the first time in my educational career, I feel supported to explore my passions and feel free to embrace who I am as an individual. In my downtime, I like to practice yoga, read non-fiction books or classics, and watch Gilmore Girls on Netflix.

Achievements

I consider graduating high school and attending Hicks Honors College at the University of North Florida to be an important achievement of mine. Although my mother strived to provide an academically and emotionally supportive childhood, as she did not attend college, it was incredibly difficult for me to navigate the modern-day public school system being diagnosed with A.D.D. As a freshman in college, I found confidence in activism and community service. In Nov. of 2019, I spoke at a Speak out Against Neo-Nazis event with Student Democratic Society and later with the support of the Interfaith Center, became the lead developer and president of the Jewish Student Union at UNF.