This week, we meet Ajelet Mor, a senior studying international relations and sociology from Cheshire, Conn.

Mor is the youngest of six kids and is a first generation American. The majority of her family and extended family lives in Ecuador, Germany and Israel. She has been visiting them over the summers and holidays since she was young. She also speaks German and a bit of Hebrew and Spanish.

“I definitely believe that I am studying what I am because of my diverse upbringing and exposure to different religions, cultures and outlooks on life. I love seeing the impacts these things have on society, and I just find different cultures so fascinating,” said Mor.

On campus, Mor manages to balance being a student, a resident assistant and president of DU Club Rowing. Her favorite part about DU is being on the rowing team. She joined sophomore year because she wanted to be part of a bigger group.

“Rowing has taught me a lot. Before, I was very inconsistent, but rowing taught me how important commitment is. The first time I really saw that you truly get out what you put in was when we went to Nationals. I was a novice rower, and our team was really small, but we were one spot away from medaling. It was amazing, and that was by far my favorite memory at DU. Plus, I met my best friends through rowing. The team is great and they make every freezing day on the water at 4:45 in the morning all worth it. Anybody reading this should join.”

Besides rowing, Mor enjoys hiking, backpacking and just being active. She will be finished with all of her classes by the end of Winter Quarter, so she decided to translate her love of working with people and the outdoors to being a counselor with WinGate Wilderness Therapy, a program in Utah for teenagers struggling with family problems, drug abuse or poor mental health. 

Additionally, after graduation, she and her best friend, Christina Pauley, a senior studying international relations from Houston, Texas, are biking across the entire nation to fundraise for Discovery to Cure, an organization working towards early detection and prevention of female reproductive cancers. Their fundraiser is called A Life’s Cycle, and they hope to raise $10,000. They start their journey on June 15 in Tillamook, Ore. and plan to finish at Yale where the research is being conducted.

“We were just talking one day, and it seemed so strange that after college we were just going to separate. So, we decided to do something we both love- being active -and fundraise for a cause we both strongly believe in” she said.

Mor accurately characterized herself as “adventurous, approachable and happy,” and she will undoubtedly continue to confidently adventure into the world outside of DU.