As a junior, the idea of college has been a black cloud in the back of my head. In preparation for the common app and supplementals I will have to write, I have been thinking of events in my life that have been significant. I have always thought of college and have been developing application ideas. Still, since the war broke out in Israel, I have been thinking about my homeland along with what makes me me, and since it has been 1 month since the start of the war, I have been thinking about Israel more, which got me to my answer of what significant event in my life has made me who I am today. 

I had lived in Israel for 3 years when I was a toddler, learning Hebrew and going to public preschool. I would say I was an Israeli child with American parents, but I left in 2011 with not much significance or any feelings of some sort towards Israel. I wouldn’t have returned to Israel until this summer, the summer of 2023. I attended a program, AMHSI, where I learned about Jewish history, culture, and, most importantly, identity. I was thrown into the culture of Israel, spending 6 weeks there traveling across the country from Negev and Mitzpe Ramon in the south all the way to Tfazat and the Golan heights in the north, all the way from Tel Aviv in the west, and Masada and Jerusalem in the east. Within my 6 weeks in Israel, I consumed knowledge like no other, always paying attention in class and writing notes even in the most obscure of places, like a Roman Amphitheatre. I credit my curiosity about Jewish knowledge to my teacher, Doni. The way he would teach a class was like no other. On the first day of class, we were asked to introduce ourselves, and I knew everyone in the room was Jewish, including myself, but I didn’t truly know. Doni’s class and my time in Israel made me realize 2 things. 1: Israel is more than just a country. Israel is our sacred homeland. A land that radiates love, peace, and acceptance. A land in which our people have thousands of years of history, dating back to times even before the Romans. 2: I know what it means to be Jewish. Being Jewish means I can connect with anyone Jewish as well. It means I am surrounded by a community that will accept me as I am. It means I can walk into any synagogue in the world, have mutual friends with someone, and be welcomed with open arms. It means singing the prayers my great-grandparents sang in Europe. It means I am a part of a community. 

My time in Israel was life-changing. I know who I am now because of my time there.