Why am I doing this? That is the question I was asked the most when I was preparing to come here. Why am I studying abroad for two months by myself in a country on a different continent? Why would anyone leave halfway through the school year to go to school somewhere else and then return to the school that you had just left. Why do this? To put the emotion and drive that one feels to do a program like this into words is almost impossible, because it is a natural feeling that cannot be explained. To want to not only travel by yourself, but learn and experience a different culture for an extended period of time is a motivation that is somehow ingrained into people. So why am I studying abroad? Why should anyone? To become more independent, mature, find something that you are passionate about, learn in a new environment, raise your GPA, there is many answers to that question.

Independence is a key reason why people study abroad. At Muss you can leave for two and a half hours and walk around town, take a taxi to a mall, or sit in the strawberry fields across the street. You can buy your own food and put it in the fridge, or eat the free meals provided by the school at the Cheder Ochel. On tiyulim, the madrichim and teacher will give you an amount of time to walk around the area and eat and shop for DOTS, or Dinner On The Streets. For me there’s a lot more freedom than at home, mainly because I don’t have my license so I rely on my parents for transportation, but also because it feels more dangerous at home than it does here. Class scheduling here resembles college courses, and living in dorms and sharing bathrooms with others creates a mindset of responsibility for the space that you share with four or five other girls. You learn time management skills because you work with a schedule that changes every day. Overall, studying abroad creates an independent mindset that will be useful for the rest of your life.

Studying abroad also allows your thoughts to become independent and you can develop your own opinions on controversial matters. Because you are away from home for so long, you learn about events in the world from other people than your friends and family. You hear new point of views on different topics like gun control, religion, and economics. You can hear the narrative of Israel and decide if you are a Zionist, if you love Israel, if you would make aliyah. Before this program, I did not consider aliyah a real possibility, I thought moving here and serving in the army was a little ridiculous. And then I came to Israel. I studied abroad in Israel. I lived and learned and made friends in Israel. I realized that people move here and gladly serve because they feel such love for this country that they will fight to keep it safe. It is admirable. Before, I would have thought the exact opposite.

You study abroad for many reasons. But the most influential reason is the independence and maturity that you gain by living away from home, something most people in America don’t get until college, and even then some people will never learn these life skills.