Almost hitting the two month mark; crazy to think that we are already here. I cannot even think about going back to Seattle and leaving Hod Hasharon. I truly cannot think about leaving all of my favorite people and all of my favorite food. My biggest tip on attending HSI is to come with low expectations but big dreams. I do not mean this in a negative way but we are brought in with the highest of expectations and when things go wrong, we get upset when it is not the way we intended. I am currently reading a book, Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. Flow focuses on the psychology of our brains and training them to react positively when we are upset in our daily lives. We set goals but when they are not achieved, we merely see the bad from our issue. Along my HSI journey, I have learned that I need to go with the flow; I need to learn to have a positive outlook on life when things do not go my way. This concept is only one of the major things I have learned in my time here. Another thing to consider when going on HSI, is to be open. Be open to new people, activities, situations, and new cultural bearings! Put yourself out there in ways you normally would not at home. This program has already drastically changed my life and I cannot express how I have managed to erase so much negativity from my life in the past two months. We can either take our problems in two ways; handle then as the children we are or the adults we are becoming. At HSI, we are taught to handle our issues as adults and communicate with others about our problems. It is unbelievable that I am still here for 72 days. I have built a routine and also a family inside the dorm. As I mentioned earlier about coming to Israel with high expectations, I recognize it because I did this myself. I had expectations to do EVERYTHING that my cousin had previously done and was upset when I was not having the same experience as her. This is because it was not the same. I have learned so much about who I can be independently, and how I can interact in a group with all different types of people. I continue to strengthen my relationships and learn more about myself each day. I know that when I come home, I want to implement my traditions back into my family. I want to educate my friends and family on Zionism and Israeli culture. There are various misconceptions that Americans carry about Israelis; but experiencing it all for myself, I learn not to follow others belief and form my own opinion. My biggest takeaway is to stop forming assumptions about people before I truly get to know them. My last recommendation to an incoming HSI student is to explore other sects of Judaism. I am a Reform Jew and ever since my first week, I have already become more conservative and plan on continuing upon my arrival in 2 months!