There are many reasons to study abroad.

There are many reasons to study abroad. One of the main reasons and one I have stressed before is Experiential Learning - a different and new form of education. AMHSI puts a huge emphasis on learning through experience, in particular with the Jewish history course. A second important reason to study abroad is the independence you will gain. Independence naturally develops when you go off to live by yourself away from home. This is something I have experienced during my time here in many different ways. Things such as doing my own laundry, being in charge of my own homework, being on-schedule and planning my own time, etc. The third reason I would take what might be a scary leap and join this program would certainly be to experience a dramatic change in culture as I wrote in an earlier blog. Cultural differences are huge, not to mention a change in the language of course. Finally, the freedom that you will experience in living away from home and your parents is a bigger deal than you might think. It really creates a whole new “lifestyle” if you will. This fact alone will make you grow up more than you can imagine.

Why is independence, maturing and experiencing a new culture important? Well, all of these things lead to being a “bigger person” or in Hebrew, “rosh gadol”. Rosh gadol directly translates to “big head” but the deeper meaning is understanding things on a level in which the average teen or even adult does not. Having what we call “tough experiences” leads to bigger things, or in other words if you experience something new and hard you learn to have a better way of solving/ reacting to problems. A tough experience in this case would be (like I said) learning how to be independent, mature and how to experience a new culture. The positive outcome of these specific challenges is leadership, leadership comes out of this because once you know you can be independent you can lead others in the “right” direction. For me, I can already see the change in the way I do day to day things. I have seen that I am more organized, manage my time better and I see that I procrastinate much less, I believe this has a direct connection too me being at this school and “working out” all of these new challenges.