I was raised in a Reformed Jewish family. I was Bat Mitzvah'd.

I went to Hebrew School twice a week during until 7th grade and after that, I proceeded to go to Temple about twice a year. I never considered my religion as something that defined me, I never even really thought about it. That is, until I came to college.

I grew up in a town where being Jewish did not classify me as a minority. Out of my close friends, about a quarter of them are you Jewish. By no means was my high school predominantly Jewish, but I did attend about 40 Bar/Bat Mitzvahs. That basically just means I have my fair share of photo booth awkward stage photos.

When I started looking and applying to colleges, I gave about zero thought as to how my religion would affect my choice. As far as I was concerned it did not matter whether there were two or 200 Jews at my school.

When I arrived at the University of Richmond's campus for my freshman year, I soon realized I had picked a school that was very different from my high school. Attending a school where about 6% of the population is Jewish and your one of the first Jews some people meet is a little scary.

I reluctantly started attending the Hillel meetings thanks to a few of my friends from high school who also go to Richmond. Never did I ever think I would ever get involved with Jewish life at all in college but boy was I wrong.

Today I picked up the challah for our weekly Shabbat meetings. Last week, in our weekly Jewish life programming, I was mind blown by the things I had never known about the Torah. I am now not only a regular at Hillel, I even have an executive board position--definitely give @spider_hillel a follow on Instagram--I'm the social media manager.

Hillel has become more than a place where I go just to get free Manichevitz; it has become a place where I feel welcomed and supported. I never realized how much I identify with Jews until there were not that many around to identify with. I feel closer to the Jewish community than I ever have before.

This by no means implies that I am planning on giving bacon up anytime soon, but I have found another part of myself. I define myself as a Jew, and I am incredibly proud of that. I may have lost all the Hebrew skills I once acquired in the dreaded grade school Hebrew school, but I love learning about the culture I feel so close with. My experience as a Jew may be a unique one, but I would not have it any other way.