People moving to America might picture bright lights or warm beaches. But for 23-year-old Israeli Olympic weightlifter Roni Shaham, the journey led her somewhere she had never heard of: Olathe, Kansas.

This article is an accompanying piece to Bermundo’s video project about Shaham.

Shaham, an elite lifter from Herzliya, Israel, was serving in the Israel Defense Forces less than a year ago. She was both an athlete and a member of the Lone Soldier program, where she supported soldiers serving without immediate family in Israel. When she arrived at MidAmerica Nazarene University, she was the one alone.

Her father stayed in the U.S. with her for 10 days before heading home, leaving her, a Jewish student, alone on a Christian campus.

Shaham started weightlifting at 16 after doing CrossFit in her early teens. She quickly rose in the sport, representing Team Israel in competitions in Poland, Colombia, Romania, Albania and Finland. Her dream was to live in the United States, and she believed an athletic scholarship would make it possible.

Israeli weightlifter Roni Shaham training at MidAmerica Nazarene University in Olathe, Kansas.

After months of searching, she found MidAmerica Nazarene University and reached out to associate head coach Austin Healy.

“She contacted us about six months ago and said, ‘I see you have a weightlifting team. What’s this all about?’ And we just started talking,” Healy said.

The first month in Kansas was tough. Everything felt different — the people, the culture and the religious environment.

“Just knowing how to do anything, like where to get groceries, where to do stuff — it was hard,” Shaham said.

She also mentioned the differences between life in Kansas and living in a country that observes Shabbat. In Israel, Saturdays were quiet, with few cars driving through her neighborhood. Additionally, school weeks run from Sunday through midday Friday. But Shaham found her own way to adapt, turning to her faith.

“They talked about Jesus, and obviously, I don’t believe in Jesus,” she said. “But whenever they talked about him, I would just imagine my own God. I translated it to my own belief. I would say, ‘If God wants me here, then I should be here.’”

Shaham believes it was part of a larger plan. She was scrolling through KU Chabad’s page on Instagram when she randomly messaged a former KU student featured in one of the photos. From there, she connected with more students and Rabbi Zalman Tiechtel.

Shaham went to her first Shabbat at the University of Kansas and felt like she had found her community again. Shaham said there is something different about Jewish people, that they just understand.

“Roni has the best smile. Her energy is contagious,” said Brenna Gross, a junior at KU. “The bond is so strong; it’s an instant connection. It’s just easier to be friends with someone knowing they are Jewish, knowing they go through the struggles you’ve gone through, that they have the same history and they have the same background.”

While quiet at first, Shaham has opened up, trying American traditions, attending a rodeo, going line dancing and even teasing her American friends about their food — “You guys eat like crap,” she said.

“She’s just a lot of fun. She’s just the sweetest person,” said Whitney Rodden, Shaham’s strength and conditioning coach. “She loves to travel. Every time we go somewhere, she’s got to see this, this and this. We’ve got to give her the whole experience.”

She may not share the same faith as those around her, but Shaham has learned that belief, in any form, can help her find her place.

Tyler Bermundo graduated this month with a degree in sports journalism from the University of Kansas.