I stand by my original statement, this program is not a living classroom. It is simply living

Despite AMHSI’s reputation of being a living classroom, it is simply untrue. I would never call the interactive learning experience here a “living classroom”, simply based on the implications that the word “classroom” holds. The word classroom is too restrictive to the experience of learning at Muss. Classroom implies walls, desks, but mostly, limits. At Muss, it is so much different. Almost nothing we do is “Words on a page” work, it's “Words brought to life” work. Sure, we take notes, but the experience is really what you remember. When we go on a Tiyul, we don’t just talk about an event, we experience the event. We hike Masada and stand in the very spots where Jews lived hundreds of years ago. We storm a Christian Crusade fortress and reenact what might have happened there. 

I think, to truly learn something, you need to experience it. While, of course, we have tests and note taking, these things do not have nearly as much emphasis placed on them as they do in an average class back in America. 

Without the constant stress of tests, and with the constant fluidity of the program, I am not only able to take in the material, but I am also able to experience the feelings of the places we visit. To be able to immerse oneself in something makes the experience all the more impactful. I’ll never forget laughing with my class as our teacher sang to us about the bizarre Canaanite rituals that used to take place at Tel Gezer. I’ll never forget how I felt when I reached the final few steps of our trek up Mount Gilboa, and I know I’ll never forget the view of Jerusalem from the edge of the city that took my breath away. 

I stand by my original statement; this program is not a living classroom. It is simply living