“It sounded like a really good, small school,” Halpert, currently a fourth-year Psy.D. student at LIU, recalled. “I wanted to keep the Jewish atmosphere I had in Michlalah for a few more years and it was definitely a great choice.”

Unlike most of her fellow students, Halpert, who is a native of Far Rockaway, NY, attended LCW as a commuter.

“I still got the social benefit of the school and the honors program allowed us to take courses on a high level,” Halpert pointed out.

Halpert said her experience in LCW was remarkable.

“I love how the staff at LCW always tried to make things work,” Halpern said. “If five people expressed an interest in a class, they would schedule the class.”

One of her favorite classes was in creative writing.

“I was able to take it without fear that 90 percent of the class material would be offensive,” she explained. “It was incredible and it was a uniquely Touro class— rigorous, but the material wasn’t objectionable.”

As member of the College’s Prestigious Honors Program, Halpert enjoyed a particularly warm relationship with LCW dean, Dr. Marian Stoltz-loike.

“The honors program had really interesting speakers and we had an amazing internship program,” said Halpert.

For one of her internships, Halpert worked at Columbia University Medical Center where she worked with children.

“The experience made me want to go into psychology,” she said. “I took really good psychology classes at LCW and I was able to develop relationships that fostered my desire to go into this field.”

Halpert graduated in 2012 and began her Psy.D. program in Long Island University. Currently in her fourth year, Halpert is doing her fieldwork at Long Island Jewish Medical Center’s geriatric unit. She is considering working with children struggling with anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorder.

“LCW gave me the background to succeed in graduate school,” Halpert said.