USD Magazine Fall 2021

ERICA RISEIG

[ f a i t h i n a c t i o n ]

hen Rachel Freeman ’09 (BA) was growing up, her family life was M O R E T H A N E N O U G H W The spi r i tua l j ourney cont inues for Rache l Freeman by Julene Snyder

“We were doing a lot of work in the Kumeyyay Garden, back when all of the awareness around native plants was being recognized on campus,” she recalls. “For me, it became accepting the differences through tikkun olam, a Jewish idea that means ‘to repair the world.’ That’s how I started living my life through Judaism. I was kind of a lost soul who was really trying to find my place.” Over time, spirituality has be- come central to Freeman’s world- view. “No matter what somebody believes, we’re interconnected and part of the human spirit. To me, it doesn’t matter if somebody goes to a mosque or a church or a tem- ple. Foundationally, we are human beings who have basic needs and

her poems private for years, she found herself yearning for spiritu- ality and connection. For Free- man, it turns out that choosing to attend the University of San Diego helped to light her path. “I was at a Catholic school when I found my Jewish identity,” she says with a laugh. A sociology major, Freeman declared a second major in ethnic studies, with a concentration in community policy and justice.

Freeman says even as a child, she always had a lot on her mind. She started writing short stories at the age of 7; by the time she was 11, she wrote more poetry than prose. “I’ve expressed myself through writing my whole life,” she says. While she doesn’t talk about it very often, she hosted a “for teens, by teens” television program for local public access, and won an Emmy award. But even though she kept

strictly secular. “I grew up very assimilated into mainstream cul- ture,” she recalls. “When I was 11, my dad gave me a choice of having a sweet 16 party or studying for a Bat Mitzvah. But I had no connec- tion to Judaism as a kid, so I said, ‘I’m going to do a sweet 16 party and have all my friends come. No one has to know I’m Jewish.’”

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