Hannah Sarvasy stands out even in the rarefied company of other Bronfman scholars. Sarvasy is one of 26 youths selected by the Samuel Bronfman Foundation for its five-week Bronfman Youth Fellowship in Israel.
Most participants are between their junior and senior year of high school.
Moving a year ahead of her peers is only one of many ways in which Sarvasy has distinguished herself. Sarvasy's paintings have been selected for inclusion in numerous juried exhibitions. For a high school independent study project, she began seeking out elderly Jewish immigrants to learn about their history. She struck gold at a retirement home in Berkeley, where she found one resident who had been the first president of the U.C. Berkeley Hillel, a fact the home's activity director had not even known, Sarvasy said. It was back in the '70s.