I’m a rising senior in college, a summer intern in Washington, DC – and apparently, a monster.

I grew up in America, where playgrounds were places to climb monkey bars, race down metal slides, and disappear into pirate ships without a care in the world. My cousins in Israel grew up on playgrounds remarkably similar, except many included reinforced concrete shelters, built for something far too sinister for a playground.

When I was younger, thousands of miles separated me from a reality that was difficult to comprehend: while I saw a playground as a safe place to laugh and play, my family in Israel had to learn the quickest path to safety. Often under one of those reinforced structures that doubled as a bomb shelter.

I have more than 20 cousins in Israel. My mother comes from a Yemenite Israeli family, and my father........

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