Coming home after the first semester of Junior year of College, I have been having a lot of appointments. Some of these have been formal appointments: the allergist, the dentist, a haircut, the bank... The list goes on. Others have been informal: going out to eat with family friends, hanging out and eating ice cream with high school friends, and going to spin classes with another friend going abroad to Spain next semester. When you only reconnect with people from your "pre-college" life every six months, there is a lot to catch up on. The item of interest that has bound all of these interactions together this time is the massive amount of curiosity and fear people have had about the fact that I am going to Israel.
Friends at school and home tell me all the time that they are scared for me and ask me if I am nervous about my time abroad. I usually answer with "Yeah! I am nervous but I am also extremely excited!" Albeit a bit of a different scenario, this sentiment echoes how I felt both when going to camp for the first time as a camper, as well as a staff member. Going somewhere new with a bunch of people you have never met before far away from home for an extended period of time? Game on.
Like camp, this type of adventure lends itself to transformative experiences, both positive and negative. How can I not be excited yet a bit fearful when I think about the sheer amount of new experiences I will be having in a few short days: a new equation of people, geography, culture, food (!!!), and religion that will culminate in a semester unlike anything I have experienced thus far. Here's to 2015 and an experience of a lifetime!
