鈥淕rowing up in Calabasas, California, I was accustomed to being surrounded by other Jewish students. But that wasn鈥檛 the case when I enrolled at Texas A&M. My Judaism would come up in conversations, and students would say, 鈥楾hat鈥檚 cool. So, being Jewish鈥hat does that mean?鈥� Most of my college friends never met a Jew before meeting me. There are just under 70,000 students on campus, and only about 250 of them are Jewish. I wanted to get to know those 250 people. It was important for me to be able to connect with other Jewish students 鈥� other people who share the same traditions and customs as me. I became involved in Texas A&M Hillel during my freshman year, and because I鈥檓 a cadet, it鈥檚 also known as my ‘fish’ year. As ‘fish,’ we endure rigorous training. I wouldn鈥檛 have gotten through my ‘fish’ year without Hillel. Now, I鈥檓 halfway through my sophomore year, and I know almost every Jewish student on my campus. We make up a small percentage of students, but we鈥檙e a strong, tight-knit community. And because of that, it doesn鈥檛 feel so small.鈥� 鈥� Andrew Kraut, Texas A&M University