I have heard so many great stories from my friends who have gone in past years and I am excited to bring back my own stories to share with friends and family. I am beyond excited and I can’t wait to begin this amazing journey on Tuesday!

This fellowship means so much to me for many reasons. One of the main reasons obviously being that I’ve always wanted to go to Israel. But another big thing for me was that I could write an essay simply about me. My individual experience with Judaism and how I want it to grow. This essay I wrote, this story about me, could give me such a big opportunity that I never would have even imagined possible. ​

As I am preparing to leave, I am excited, nervous, and hopeful. I am excited to learn more about my religion, Jewish culture, and Israel in general. I have never been intense hiking before or visited mountain sites so I am very excited to the tiyuls. As I am starting to talk more to the other students, I can’t wait to meet them and get to know them all. However, I am very sad to leave my parents, friends, and my dog, Riley, because I know I will miss them a lot but I know there will be many activities to keep me distracted from missing home. I also have never been that far across the world before so I am anxious to see what it is like. Although, I am hopeful this will be a life changing experience for me that I can tell other people about in hopes that they will do it too. I am hopeful that this group of students will become so close with one another that for many years in the future, we will all stay so close. Lastly, I am thankful for my family and AMHSI for giving me this incredible opportunity that I can not wait to be apart of in five days!!

Growing up in the suburbs of Pennsylvania, my life has not been too adventurous. I can’t wait to climb Masada, ride a camel, and float in the dead sea. A few days ago, my mom showed me her scrapbook from when she went on Muss. It’s crazy how looking at those photos still puts the biggest smile on her face. As the days are counting down, I am constantly receiving swarms of stories, memories, and places my mom wants to me to check out when I get to campus. Listening to all of these stories and hearing her experience, clearly shows that the memories I will make on this trip will last a lifetime.

The packing process has begun and the trip I’ve been planning in my head is actually going to happen! I feel nervous to adjust to a new school, time zone, and daily schedule in a new home across the globe. It is nerve-racking thinking of how different life will be in Israel and the adjustment to this new lifestyle, but that doesn’t change how excited I am to have this incredible opportunity.

I look over all of my materials once again that will soon be Tetrised into my big blue suitcase, again overcome with the stress of packing. I take a deep breath and leave the room. You know what? If a tiny country in the Middle East can fit thousands of years of history in within its borders, I can fit my stuff in a suitcase.

I hope that my trip is just as special as the stories I've heard that I too, will be ecstatic to share my experience with others, which is why being a fellow is important to me. Although I am nervous, I am also eager to be immersed into a new culture, meet new people and truly experience Israel for what it is.

My favorite part of this Tiyul was gaining a better understanding of how difficult the lives of the citizens of Sderot must be at times. I have never been able to, and still can not, grasp at how brave they all must be to continue their lives along the Gaza border despite the constant danger and fear, my heart goes out to them all.

It is almost one week before I leave for Israel and I cannot contain my nerves. I am afraid that I am the only one who is leaping out of their skin and melting into a big mush, and that it is just me feeling this way, so let’s just pray that I am not alone.

At the beginning of this program, I had three goals for myself: to make unforgettable friendships and memories, to improve my Hebrew, and to forge a personal connection with Israel and the Jewish people.

I came into the fall semester with very high expectations and I can happily say my expectations were exceeded. Looking back on my first blog and the goals I set for myself and my fears going into the program I feel like I matured. The fears that I had written about in my first blog including, not being able to speak Hebrew, living in a foreign country, and being away from being away from friends and family for the whole semester.

As these 4 months come to an end, I look back at my experiences on this program, on my goals in the beginning, the friendships I’ve made, and my development as a Jewish woman. I believe that I have grown so much as a person and most of all as a Jewish woman. I have learned how to stick up for myself and the Jewish community. I’ve become more knowledgeable in Israel and Jewish history and have been able to visit the places where the battles/wars have taken place. I have been able to connect to Judaism in my own way and show it in my own way.

As my days at Muss are coming to an end, I’ve really been reminiscing my four months on this program. I’ve also been reflecting on my goals I’ve set myself from the start of the trip. One of my goals was to challenge myself. I definitely completed this goal. I put myself out there, made new friends, pushed myself to be better in school, and did all the tiyulim I could. I survived Yam l’ Yam and Masada. I got to explore all the way up North in the Golan and even saw Syria and Lebanon! I also got to experience army training at Gadna and pushed myself to do exercises I didn’t even think I could do.

The program has now ended and we have been asked to look upon our past blog that listed our goals for the end of the semester. My goals included learning Hebrew, taking lots of photos and staying in touch with friends from HSI. I believe that I have met my goals.

From the day I returned to my motherland, until the last day on campus when I watched my home fly by before my eyes. The beginning was also an end and the end was also a beginning. The moment I got off the plane, the person I was before ended; and as I leave, it is the beginning of a new life. The experiences I had will lead me into the future as a Jew and as an adult who will be expected to contribute to society. The whole session I worked towards a couple goals the whole time. I now look back and see how well I succeeded as an individual in coming out of the program with more than a few fond memories.

The semester is coming to an end and I’m pretty sad about it. This has been the most amazing experience and I’m so happy I came to HSI. My first goal at the begging was to make new friends. That goal was met. I’ve made the bestest friends and I’m so sad I’m leaving them. My friends here are practically family. My second goal was to get good grades. I have met that goal. I worked hard here and it payed off.

After looking back on the goals that I created at the beginning of the semester, I can confidently say that I accomplished all of them. I kept straight A’s in all my classes, I made a lot of close friends, I stepped out of my comfort zone and actually enjoyed hiking, and so much more.

Last night in my hotel room, I decided to write a letter to my grandma Judith who passed away before I was born, two months after my mom returned from HSI. Putting that letter in the wall was the closest I’ve ever felt to her, and I’m so incredibly grateful to have experienced that feeling. All of these Tanakh verses that can seem so far away have led me to this very spot in my life.

This morning, I finished packing the last of my bags. The whole experience was surreal to me; it still feels like I just got here. When I first arrived on campus, I had myriad expectations for the coming semester. Happily, I met most of my goals without having to put in any special effort.

This picture is of the Old City of Jerusalem built into what it is during the times of Kings David & Solomon. We learned about the history of modern Israel and the song Yerushalayim Shel Zahav.