By Eishna Ranganathan
News Editor

Each year a wish is made. But it is not followed by the “blowing out” of burning candles. She chooses to save it, this tradition of wish-making, for a later time. A time when the flight attendant announces “Please fasten your seatbelts. The plane will now prepare for take-off.” And it does. And she goes home, to her home, Israel, with stuffed animal “Johnny” in hand and dreams “more so ambitions” at heart.

President of her local B’nai B’rith Youth Organization (BBYO) chapter, an annual traveler to Israel, and an advocate for international diplomacy, Noa Rassin aspires partake in nation-to-nation interactions as her future career. After graduating Neshaminy High School, she will join the Israeli Army with a position in the foreign relations sector, which entails traveling to talk to armies around the world while representing your nation’s.
Because several countries during wartime go through universal traumatic experiences, she believes that job shows true compassion – understanding a shared event that unites humanity; “Not only did I care about America and Israel, but also other people around the world who deal with this,” Rassin said.

During her 2014 visit to Isreal, Rassin saw firsthand the meaning behind true fear. On a day where the blue skies and white clouds met the green grass and shook hands as Benjamin Netanyahu and Mahamous Abbas, political leaders of Israel and Palestine respectively, were not able to, an announcement was also made. About missile strikes in the area – a moment that later served as the “turning point “of her life.

It was 2 a.m. in the morning at a park, an open place, with a few small picnic tables nearby and a siren blaring in the background. She, her cousins and friends hid, under the table, hoping for the best, waiting for boom. “You need to experience something like that in order to really learn about yourself,” Rassin said.

It – the rocket – fell, landing 10 miles away in open space, unable to be taken out by the Iron Dome, the main air defense system developed by Israel. She later advocated for continuation of U.S. funds to perpetuate the development of the Iron Dome at an AIPAC (American-Israel Public Affairs Committee) conference in Washington D.C. Learning more about relations between America and Israel in DC from a cultural, political and economic standpoint, she spoke with Penn. Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick about the matter.

“She has given me the confidence to speak up for my beliefs, the passion to get more involved and the leadership skills to inspire others. As many know, Noa will be joining the Israeli army this upcoming summer. Many American citizens feel that parts of the Middle East are strictly terrorism but in Noa’s eyes… Israel is her home, her love and never does fear come across her mind; Noa’s devotion to her home land is something everyone should be inspired by,” Casey Superfine, Vice President of the BBYO chapter said.

She relates these experiences back to Neshaminy, where she talks to exchange and English-as-a-Second Language students because of the diverse experiences they bring to her school community and believes they have the most interesting insight to offer. “You don’t get to meet these people who come from different places. You meet the people who come from Levittown or Trevose or Feasterville or Langhorne,” Rassin said.

Since her flights to Israel are usually independent, she talks to those sitting on the plane with her, to learn, to establish a personal connection, to find adventure in diversity, and because “[she experiences] the kind of communication school doesn’t teach [her]. On the way to CA, she sat next to a man from Japan, who happened to be a author in the middle of publishing a book and a year later, received a letter. “We say we learn to accept differences in high school, but it’s nothing like in Israel or another country,” Rassin said.

“One of the things that make Noa so unique is the fact that she speaks 4 languages – English, Hebrew, Russian and Spanish – and she realizes the importance of languages in cultural understanding and promotion of goodwill. She knows that in order to be able to solve issues, you must approach them from multiple viewpoints, especially cultural,” Filip Karan, former Neshaminy exchange student from Croatia said.

Through the travels, tragedies, conferences and conventions she finds inspiration – to want to see countries in their “purest form” and later represent them with first-hand knowledge. Checking global news daily, aiming to meet someone from every country by thirty, Rassin is in the constant process of becoming, shaping herself based on the voices, anecdotes and accounts she has heard.

“There’s lots of connection between her experiences traveling and our particular course. She’s made connections with people in [the Middle East] that she brings back and says ‘hey I have potentially some speakers that may want to come in and share expertise in certain areas like terrorism and human rights…’ I can tell how interested she is in this stuff… There’s not a day where she doesn’t come up and have something to say about what she’s doing, what she’s preparing to do or what she’s already done,” AP Human Geography teacher, Ed Miller said.