Noga, an Israeli alum with Iraqi roots, arrived at Younited as a quiet perfectionist. Growing up in Giv’atayim, she focused her energy on competitive swimming and playing percussion in a brass band. Stepping into Younited’s diverse student body challenged her to step outside her comfortable routine. Today, she has transformed her quiet observational skills into an analytical framework, focusing her curiosity on the science of human behavior.

• Now and next steps: Driven by a desire to understand how people think and connect, Noga is channeling her academic future into the field of neuroscience.
• Finding a voice beyond perfectionism: Being surrounded by peers from entirely different walks of life pushed Noga to step out of her shell. The community taught her that she did not always have to be right, allowing her to drop her strict perfectionism and speak up more comfortably.
• Shattering the uniform circle: Before Younited, Noga realized her social and educational track was entirely uniform, remaining with the exact same group of peers from kindergarten through high school. She chose Younited specifically to break that cycle and encounter genuine cultural and ideological diversity.
• Realizing there are no limits: Noga emphasizes that Younited broadens a student’s horizon well past their local upbringing. It gave her the critical thinking tools and personal confidence to realize that the world has no fixed boundaries, inspiring her to actively pursue meaningful scientific inquiry.