Just to start off, I can’t even explain in words how much I love Alexander Muss. It has met every single one of my needs and even beyond. I have literally 30 new best friends who I know I will keep in touch with after this program. It is a big mix of both sophomores and juniors from all around the country including: Georgia, North Carolina, Washington, California, Michigan, Chicago, DC, Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, and Oregon. The first day, it was so cool hearing where everyone is from and realizing everyone has a different background, but we all have the connection of being Jewish. Everyone gets along here and there is absolutely no drama at all, it is every teenager’s dream! Each and every person is unique and brings some of their special qualities to the group. We embrace everyone’s differences which makes us such a bonded group of people.

When I first arrived on campus, I was really nervous and stressed out because I didn’t know anyone besides the people I had just met at the airport. It was one of those situations where you try to make small talk about things to find similarities with other people. Yes, I made small talk and talked to people without knowing their names, which was really uncomfortable. The first real day on campus, I thought it was going to be full force, lets start school now, but it was the exact opposite. They didn’t want us to worry about the stressors of school at first, they wanted us to feel comfortable in our setting with all the people we are going to be surrounded with for the next two months before we thought about school work. We met our two incredible counselors, Bar and Reut, as I previously mentioned in my last blog. They are amazing people, and I am so happy I get to spend the next two months with these amazing women.

Now that I have got into the hang of things, we have started school, taking our home classes. I love my two teachers Talia, my Pre Calc teacher, and Phillip, my AP Psychology teacher. They are both really intelligent and have a well-rounded knowledge about everything I am learning in Pennsbury’s curriculum. Pennsbury is my school back home in Pennsylvania which is a very good school and has been amazing in communicating with my teachers here in Israel. I am a little overwhelmed about my AP test in about three weeks, but my teacher has made me feel so confident in what I know and how I will be prepared. He compliments me on my hard work in the subject, and his teaching strategies really work well with the way I learn best.

I am so comfortable and happy here on campus in Hod Hasharon! It has been a little over a week, and I feel like I have lived here for months. I seriously could not be happier! I have found the greatest friends ever who are very similar, but also a little different than me. We connect on so many different emotional, intellectual, and moral levels. I am truly accepted by the entire group and it makes me feel confident in myself that it is good to be who you are and embrace yourself. There is nobody in our session who hates each other, and there has been no fighting at all. Yes, it is still the beginning, but I really don’t see that happening with this group of people.

In my dorm room, I have five other roommates.  At first, I was a little skeptical about how that would work and how cleanly that would be, but it could not have worked any better. We have so much fun in our room, and all of us get along wonderfully. We dance, sing, tell stories, and laugh A LOT in our room. We all love each other so much, and I seriously couldn’t have asked for a better room. As you can probably tell, I love Israel, I love Hod Hasharon, and I love AMHSI so much. I am so happy I got to be a part of this session with the most amazing group of people ever!