Hello! So, this is my last blog entry for this trip, which is a bit scary and uncomfortable because we have all been experiencing a lot of lasts lately. Last Saturday was our last Shabbat with Aubrey, who is one of the core teachers. Yesterday was our last tiyul, or trip, on the program. This weekend is our last free weekend. I just finished my last lab, and next week is finals week for all my classes. I think I am ready to go back home to my family and city, but it is going to be a big change and I will miss a lot about this program. I feel like a very different person than when I first came here. I remember walking around campus on the first day, seeing all these people who I had never met, and not quite knowing what to expect. It seems so long ago and so different from my current reality.

Reading my old blogs and journal entries really reminds me how differently I felt about everything. One thing I noticed was that at the beginning of this program I had set out a list of goals for myself: make friends with everyone on my program, swim as much as I could, run and use the gym, and get good grades. If I am being honest, I did not even come close to completing all of them. I would say that I am friends with everyone on this program in that I feel comfortable around them and I could have fun with them, but even so, there are quite a few people who I have not had a real and decent conversation with. I don’t really know a lot of the people around me as well as I could, but that is okay because there were 40 people on this program and the people I did make friends with I am now very close with. At the beginning of the program I ran quite a bit, but as soon as the pace picked up and more things began happening, I stopped. The schedule was so full that I was always ready for a nap and it was hard to find a good time to run, in addition to the fact that our schedule was so inconsistent. In regards to swimming, I have not seen a pool the entire time I have been in Israel. The one goal I actually managed to achieve was getting good grades. I have had many technical difficulties, so I haven’t actually been able to check my grades while on the program, but from what my teachers tell me, I have A’s in all my classes.

Although it may seem like I failed in not accomplishing my goals, I do not feel that way. I now realize that there are much more important things in life than what I outlined, and I really value the experience I have had on this program. I have learned a lot and am so much more knowledgeable now than when I left America. My friends are absolutely amazing and I love them with my whole entire heart. The places I have gone, people  have met, and experiences I have had are absolutely priceless and I am very happy with the things I have done here.