Journal # 1

Aug. 29, 2010

In 8^th grade, 25 students from my class were selected to take a trip to Israel for 2 weeks. I was one of those 25 students, and little did I know that the journey I was about to embark on was going to change my life. I came home with a new identity, new friendships, and a completely new student with more knowledge that I could have never imagined.

            It was my first time flying by myself and being so far away from my parents. The 25 students and families met at my school and said their final goodbyes as hesitant parents watched the big yellow school bus pull out of the parking lot.  I remember sitting next to my best friend looking out the window watching the images of our smiling families shrink away in the distance. We were so excited together and we could not sit still the whole way to the airport.

            After a long and tiresome plane ride, we arrived in the land of Israel, the moment we had all been waiting for. We met at our partnering school named A.D. Gordon and the delegation families were there waiting for us with open arms. We paired off, excited to meet the people who we would be living with for the next to weeks and took off to their homes.

            Over the course of the next two weeks, the delegation that I was with visited all the landmarks and historical places in Israel. We went everywhere from the city of Tel Aviv, to Haifa, to Jerusalem visiting the Western Wall, the Dead Sea, Masada, and we even stayed over night in a Bedouin tent.

            Growing up at a Jewish day school starting from kindergarten all the way through eighth grade really provided an experience that not many people grow up having. Since I was 5 I learned about the land of Israel and where my ancestors came from. All of my accumulated knowledge over the years summed up to real life when I was actually treated with the ability to visit the land that I had learned so much about. Being at the Western Wall in person and walking the underground most sacred parts of it was a once in a lifetime opportunity and so much different then learning about it in a classroom.

The bonds that I created with my friends and teachers on this trip also changed my life. It was jut something about the land that I cannot describe that brought us closer together and created a bond that will never be broken. I am still friends with most of the people I went on the trip with to this day. I came home with best friends that I never would have associated with and closer relationships with friends that I already had. It really was a chance to meet new people and branch out and even create friendships with teachers and administrators. I learned how the world worked outside of my home and what I was used to. And since I was with my school and the whole purpose was to a learning experience I became a different student.           

            I came home after just a two short weeks as an independent, and stronger young adult with new friends and relationships with teachers that I never thought I would have. To this day I am still thankful for the opportunity I had to embrace such a wonderful journey. It changed me as a whole and was the first major stepping stone into my life contributing to the person I am today.

           

            Writing this journal gave me a second to look back into my life and figure out a time where I truly became myself. I had some trouble pin pointing what would be the best situation to write about but when I landed on my trip to Israel, the rest was easy. I didn’t fictionalize my writing much, once I started describing my trip every thing just flowed. It was a little difficult being brief, since there is so much to be said about the trip and I tried to be descriptive, but left out a lot of detail. I could write pages and pages of the things I did in Israel and how amazing and life changing the trip was for me but I think I summarized the best I could, or tried to at least.