Not just anyone has the guts to stand up from their everyday life and move halfway around the world, alone, to study abroad. It definitely takes a specific, open-minded type of person to do a program like this to study abroad in High School.

Being in Israel makes me smile, but living in Israel allows the mood in the air to make me so happy. No matter what I could be upset about, when I think about being in Israel, every negative emotion floats away. I have never been happier in my entire life, but being in Israel brings out the best qualities in me.

I am quickly approaching the day where I finally get to go to Israel. I have never been there before and AMHSI is finally allowing me to do that. I was very fortunately given the Philadelphia fellowship for the February-March session. So how did I hear about this program?

I am so thrilled to have this opportunity to be able to experience the journey and land of Israel through AMHSI fellowship.

I cannot believe that we leave for Israel in only 12 short days.

Very soon I will be leaving America and arriving in Israel. The amount of thoughts and emotions in my head are endless. I have been waiting for the moment that I would be leaving and flying to Israel for so long, I never thought it would come so soon.

I am so excited to finally embark on this journey that has been so long awaited! I cannot believe that we are only a short 9 days away.

Sitting here in my living room, almost one week away from my trip to Israel, I am feeling a mix of frenzy and thrill! It’s so hard to believe that a week from today I will be saying goodbye to my friends and making my final preparations for my trip.

With the trip to Israel quickly approaching, I am extremely excited, but my one concern is: “Shoot! I haven’t started packing!” Even though that is a slight worry of mine, it will not be one for long. I cannot wait to spend eight weeks in a culture different from my own, and I am ecstatic to be able to immerse myself in new, out of the ordinary, experiences.

As I sit on this cold Philadelphia day in January, I cannot contemplate what my life will be like in two months. In 8 days, I will embark on the experience of a lifetime. My journey to AMHSI will change the way I view my Judaism, will prepare me for college, help me work on my collaborative skills, give me lifelong friends, and it is unfathomable how much more I will get out of my experience abroad. I am extremely fortunate to be given this opportunity, as a 10th grader, to study in a country that means so much to me.

I am sitting at home on a remarkably cold day in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with the power out, taking a quick study break from midterms. I can only imagine where I will be one week from today.

It really is officially less than a week before the trip.

I was born in Israel and visit every summer but studying in Israel is something that I have never experienced. I’ve always loved Israel, it’s always been my home.

I have recently received a scholarship to study abroad at Alexander Muss High School in Israel (AMHSI). During this course my main focus will be Jewish history and various leadership intensives. It starts in about three weeks and I am very excited, here’s some of what i’m thinking.

The definition of an expectation is a belief that someone will or should achieve something.

Expectations You would think that after going somewhere almost every summer for the last 15 years you would get tired of that place… Not me. I am itching to finally start my adventure in Israel.

I was unstoppable in my decision. Soon I will embark on my journey to Alexander Muss High School in Israel. I am beyond excited and cannot wait for this life changing experience. I am mostly packed but I still have a little more to do. This trip has come up super fast, and I have been looking forward to it since I got the call that I was accepted into the program.

In my first week at AMHSI, I have set a few goals for myself.

New experiences lead to new aspirations As I’m reaching the end of my 4th full day at Alexander Muss High School in Israel my list of goals has grown. I feel like I have been here for so much longer than just four days. So much has been thrown at me in these past few days and that is why my list has grown.

My goals for my time at AMHSI are to explore my Jewish identity and learn the geography of Israel. I have been to Israel multiple times but I have never seen it from the perspective of an exploring student.