Choosing to study abroad can provide thousands more experiences and lessons then studying where ever you are from. As well as countless fun experiences that will stay with you forever. Even though it may seem daunting a first like it did before I left for HSI, its worth it. I chose to study abroad because of the opportunity to be immersed in a different culture and to be able to learn with first hand experience of the country. I’m only been in Israel for a about a month and I’ve learned years worth of American classes on Israel and Israeli culture. Growing up I took a Hebrew classes in school from preschool up until eight grade, but I never had anyone to speak in Hebrew with other than my teachers. My friends also took Hebrew but we never knew enough to keep a conversation going or talk about things we wanted too. I’ve always wanted to learn Hebrew though and studying abroad has helped tremendously for that goal. Even though HSI isn’t a Hebrew speaking program I’ve picked up on tons of Hebrew on Tiyuls and I’ve gotten far better at speaking and understanding Hebrew. Now I challenge myself to order food or ask for directions in Hebrew.

Studying abroad for me has helped make learning fun. Normally learning for me is a necessary evil. During my regular school year I don’t actively go out and learn for fun, but just having a different environment to learn in makes everything more interesting and more enjoyable. Since going to a new country everything is interesting and I want to take it all in. Being able to tour the country has made learning so much fun for me which in turn makes it far easier. When we learned about the time of King Hezekiah we got to go through the water tunnels he had built to protect the city. A story even archeologists and Jewish scholars didn’t understand until they saw the tunnels. After a long museum tour we got to entrance of the tunnel. Even though I was joking with my friends and having fun I could still see the tunnel had the marks of the workers pickaxes even after almost two thousand years. When we were walking it hit me that I could never do this at home. Living in a not particularly historic or culturally deep town like Las Vegas learning like that is hard, and even if you live in a historic place or a culturally rich area studying abroad can teach you more than you can imagine and it can provide some of the best experiences of your life.