Micah Ross ’20 spent six weeks over the summer of 2023 working at a refugee camp in northern Greece (through the NGO Lifting Hands International). She lived with eight other volunteers, mostly from Europe, and spent her days teaching English to Yazidis refugees who had fled ISIS in Iraq. Micah put her Arabic skills to the test, working with teens as well as 2-12 year olds. She witnessed both the impact of trauma and the resilience of the young girls and women who had survived horrific events in their short lives.
Returning in the fall for her senior year at Emory, Micah began writing a year-long honors thesis, studying ISIS’s manipulative references to sexual slavery in Abbasid Baghdad and the Jihadi organization’s use of this historical precedent to justify the sexual enslavement of Yazidi women between 2014 and 2016. The experience certainly added a new dimension to Micah’s academic focus.
Why did you choose Emory?
Micah serves as an admission ambassador for Emory University so was practiced at articulating her reasons for choosing Emory. She said, “I wanted a school big enough to meet new people and small enough to run into people I knew every day. I wanted proximity to a major US city while also having the type of community that a suburban campus fosters. And, I wanted an intellectually rigorous but also collaborative and balanced environment.” She added, "I also knew I wanted a school with a strong Jewish community and a strong Middle East program.”
Did you have major going into college?
Micah was clear on her interest in the Middle East going into college, but had declared political science as her intended major. After finding herself mostly enrolling in Middle Eastern Studies classes, she soon changed her major to Middle Eastern Studies, Arabic Language and Literature.
How did you feel most prepared for college?
Micah credits her time at Athenian for preparing her to pursue her major. “Because of Athenian’s international programs, I had firsthand experience interacting with and relating to people from different backgrounds. I went to Peru on a Round Square exchange where I met a student from Jordan. This connection really helped spark my interest for my future studies too,” she said.
As far as academics, Micah felt Athenian really taught her critical thinking skills. The high-value placed on analytical skills at Athenian, especially in the literature classes, prepared Micah for the expectations of college academics. “I felt prepared to analyze text and draw historical connections,” said Micah, adding “the student-teacher connections at Athenian also made me feel really comfortable engaging with and challenging my professors, especially in comparison to my peers from other schools.”
Micah has had a full plate during her time at Emory. From serving as a Research Assistant to Deborah Lipsatdt (current US Envoy to Combat and Monitor Antisemitism) and interning with the UAE-Israel Business Council in Jerusalem, to creating a Holocaust education curriculum which she teaches to students every semester, Micah has found a way to integrate service and learning. Next year, Micah will be moving to Chicago to work as an analyst for RISC, a University of Chicago institute headed by Freakonomics author and UChicago professor Steve Levitt. When asked what advice she’d give her younger self, Micah said, “Appreciate how incredible it is to attend a school with a tight-knit community on a gorgeous campus with supportive friends and teachers. You are so lucky for all that you have.”
