At Mount Gilboa, we heard the story of Orde Wingate, who connected to the Jewish people’s holy text on such a level that he could defend their ancestors and then them. His story parallels my own in some ways.

The photo I chose today is actually not my favorite photo of the day but it represents something extremely important. To me this photo represents branching out, for me as a person, and for our entire group.

Along with this, I think that I need to be more adventurous with the things that I do.

I can’t wait to start my road to becoming a better leader and achieving my goals each and every day!

One goal that I have for myself is to make the most of my experience.

My first week here on the AMHSI campus has been incredible! I can't believe that I have already been here for a week. Time really does fly when you're having fun! Over the past week I have had the opportunity to set goals for the upcoming two months and even get started on a few.

I write to you from Hod Hasharon Israel, after many months of hypothesizing how this experience would change my life, it is finally here. I dream that this experience will be one that I feel fulfilled from and can reflect on and say it was one of the best experiences of my life.

This trip has hands down been the most incredible experience of my life, and I have only been here for 10 days.

For my Alexander Muss experience, I have many goals that I'm hoping to achieve both personally and academically.

It’s now been one week into my journey through Israel and I could not be happier with how it has gone so far!

When I first decided to apply to the Alexander Muss High School in Israel, I sat down and made a list of pros and cons to up and going across the world in the middle of my junior year. The cons list only had three things: one - what if I get behind, two - what if I don’t make any friends, and three- I’m going to have to be on a plane for 11 hours. But the pros list almost came alive off the paper. The ultimate toe-tingling, stomach-turning, heart-racing factor was that I’d be able to divulge myself to into my heritage-- what makes me, well, me. Developing a greater sense of who I am, where I come from, and how I connect to Judaism and it’s home has been my goal ever since.

This first week has been everything I expected and more. I have made so many new friends and even tried so many new foods. I have made many goals, both academic and personally, that I hope to achieve in my time here in Israel. These goals will not only enhance my experience here, but also give me something to look back on when the program is over.

I have been here 10 days and have already learned so much, not just in class but about myself too. This Alexander Muss experience has been everything I hoped for and more, academically and personally.

Academically, my goal on this trip is to expand my knowledge of Jewish history.

Muss Magic sits down with students from Wohl Dorm during the Summer of 2018!

I am really looking forward to the AMHSI Educators' Seminar as I have never participated in something like this in Israel!

My first week in Israel in the town of Hod Hasharon seemed like a figment of my imagination. It all started with loading the cars and driving to the Hartsfield Jackson airport. My family and I pulled into the parking lot after the drive there and went in to check my bags. Thankfully they made the weight limit at 45 and 47 pounds. My family walked me to the line where we hugged goodbye for the last time for four months. Security was a breeze, and so was the flight to New York. Once I landed in New York along with the other three Atlanta students, we went to baggage claim to get all of our belongings, then meet up with all the other student from around the country.

It’s been a week since we flew here and everything is so different!

It is a week into my experience on AMHSI. So far it is great. I love the core class because I can get really involved with it and it is interesting. The other general classes have heavy workloads but I expected that. I am surprised that I have gotten so close with people so quickly. I already think of them as brothers.

This week was a whole new experience of its own. The week started off pretty normal with everyday core class and then general studies classes. Our first week was completed and I was starting to get the hang of things. We had our first overnight tiyul this week, spending the night in Jerusalem. Before our departure, we were told the hike that we were about to do was canceled because of bad weather and that a backup plan was in process. Starting our tiyul off at 7:15 in the morning, everyone was excited for the adventure we were about to endure.