The Jewish students who have graduated this spring are an incredibly important part of our community. We are the wave of young leaders who will strengthen Canada’s Jewish community and ensure that it continues to thrive.

So, while listening to the honorary degree recipient address my graduating class this June at Carleton University, my mind began to wander. I started putting together my own speech, one that, to me at least, was more important than any words spoken at my own graduation ceremony…

To the class of Jewish graduating students 2008: Mazel tov! We did it.

Being a Jewish student on a university campus these days brings with it a set of challenges on top of those faced by the average student. But as we clutch our newly earned degrees, we must learn from the challenges we confronted.

First and foremost, we must not abandon our roots. It’s important to stay in touch with those running your local Hillel and offer to help them.

One of the greatest flaws that student organizations have is a lack of institutional memory. The turnover rate of four years ensures that such groups are almost always in a state of flux. Students are usually out the door before long-term results can be seen.

There are dedicated staffs that remain with the Hillel organizations nationwide and work to offer continuity, but they far too often become disconnected from the common student’s life.

Every graduating student must try to stay in touch with the Jewish community at their university or college, at least in the first few months of the next semester.

As we leave our university life behind, we must pay heed to the diversity we discovered. When I met my roommates in first year, I quickly found out that two of the three had never met a Jewish person before.  

We tend to be sheltered in our community sometimes, but we must note that for most people, we remain a mystery and people – whatever they tell you – tend to think the worst of the unknown.

In our post-university lives, we must be goodwill ambassadors for our faith. Wherever we go, we are representing not just ourselves, but Judaism as a whole.

The diversity within our universities is also found within our faith. There is no right way to be Jewish. There is no right amount of time to go to synagogue, and there is no right way to celebrate our festivals.

During my years in university, I attended different synagogues, different Passover seders and different Shabbat dinners. All were unique, and all were an experience unto themselves.

Our community is strongest when we stick together. Student life gets bogged down far too much in infighting and petty squabbling over issues that, when seen in the light of day, don’t deserve the attention they get in the heat of the moment.

When I was younger, I use to shun anything that strayed from the customs I grew up with. I have since shed this immaturity.

We need to work together and be together. To reach this goal, we must try to take positions in the Jewish community outside of our professional lives.

My final message to the Jewish graduating class of 2008 is this: family is the most important thing. It’s a lesson I’m repeatedly taught in my life. Parents, grandparents, siblings and extended family all exist for us to enjoy and rely on.

My university life would have been far different if I didn’t have the unflinching support of my parents, which paved the way for me to succeed.

I know full well that every person has a different relationship with his or her family, but I trust that among the many relatives we all have, there are connections that can be made and Friday nights that can be shared.

And so with that I say good luck to all the graduating Jewish students. I write this not because of some arrogant belief that I know best. I don’t write with pretension, but rather from a desire to share, because in these life-affirming moments, a desire to relate to others is a driving force.

This is simply my effort to share what I have learned from my university life.