The University of Miami Hillel welcomed Love Island season seven contestant Elan Bibas on Monday, Oct. 27 to share his experience on the show, his faith and mental health.
With more than 18 billion streams, Love Island USA’s season seven has gained the attention of millions of fans globally, which probably means you are no stranger to its contestants.
Drawing in over 250 students to register for the event, Bibas’ message was able to inspire a large audience to prioritize community, self-development and remaining true to ones’ values.
Bibas centered his message on the importance of finding community and taking risks to discover who you truly are, even with a strong TV personality. One idea that resonated deeply with him is that “life boils down to the risks you take.”
His biggest piece of advice for college students is to try everything as early as possible and begin figuring out who you are beyond academics or relationships.
“I realized that I really didn’t know how to define myself,” shared Bibas. “I made a list of everything I was interested in or had ever wanted to try and began checking things off, adding what I enjoyed and removing what I didn’t care for.”
It was in this way that he discovered his love for running, and it has now become an important part of his life, especially as he transitioned from being in the villa to returning to the outside world. He shared that “it’s a time in the day where my head is the most quiet.”
“We are constantly stimulated, and there’s very little time where we sit and process our own thoughts and feelings.”
Bibas also touched on how important his family and friends have been throughout the entire transition. From working a nine-to-five job to having a very large social media following and online presence, his family has been essential to making him feel like he’s still leading a somewhat normal life and providing their support.
“He is the most important person in the world to me; I have an incredible amount of love for him,” said Bibas in reference to his younger brother and manager Tal.
While he did not expect to come home to almost 100,000 new followers, Bibas has remained close to family and friends as he goes back to his “new normal,” and he even said the first thing he did when he returned home was call the friends and family he hadn’t spoken to in months.
Bibas touched on what his faith means to him, stating that he never thought he would leave the villa being known as “the Jewish bombshell”.
“I didn’t realize coming off the show that I would be viewed as the Jewish person, and it has become a huge part of who I am now, especially in light of recent events,” he shared with the audience.
He stated that it is extremely important for him to use his platform as a way to share the parts of himself the show did not properly showcase, and this includes his faith as well. Bibas said that being a proud Jew is significant to him, and he wishes to uphold the Jewish value of Tikkun Olam or “making the world a better place.”
“Whether that be in your community, among your friends- even loving yourself and who you are — it’s something that has really stuck with me.”
At the end of the interview, many attendees swarmed Bibas to take selfies, record videos and FaceTime friends to say hello.
Bibas will be in New York City this weekend for the New York City marathon, where he hopes to inspire others to be bold and step out of their comfort in order to find parts of themselves they didn’t even know existed. You can find more information on him and his marathon journey on his Instagram, @elan.bibas.