Studying Abroad: Reflections One Year Later

Today, January 21st, 2020 marks almost a year since I began my journey in Israel through Tichon Ramah Yerushalayim. There, I experienced so much more than I ever knew I could during high school. I want to reflect on my experiences one year after I embarked on my journey, and I want to encourage other high schoolers to think about studying abroad as well. Whether in high school or in college, I’ve learned that studying abroad, or even traveling abroad in general, can enhance a person’s perspective in such substantial ways. Firstly, studying abroad taught me so much about empathy. Traveling inherently introduced me to cultural (and religious considering I was in Israel) practices and traditions that were different and uncomfortable to me. Although I had traveled before, I had never found myself immersed in a culture and environment so different from my own. Not only was there an entire culture of religion and overt religious expression, a topic that is largely labeled as taboo in my own American culture, but there was a language barrier that took work for me to work past. These larger circumstances combined with shocking individual interactions (like the fact that everywhere I looked were armed soldiers of the IDF walking around nonchalantly with m-16s on their shoulders) made for an experience completely different from anything from my home. However, even though the experience was different from my own experience in America, the things about Israel that shocked me so much were the reality of daily life for so many. Understanding this basic idea in an applied way truly made me view the world differently. Secondly, studying abroad challenged me. Situations like the ones I described above challenged me. Figuring out how to work around my own background and cultural norms in order to find my place in Israel was a challenge, and there were also more concrete challenges like the language barrier. My exploration of the country expanded far past our small campus, though. We traveled all around, including to Poland, to learn about different elements of Jewish and Israeli history. These experiences, although some of them more mundane, challenged me in ways that wouldn’t even come up if I were at home. I had to learn how to live with roommates and according to a whole different culture and way of life. Luckily, the culture of Israel tends to be much more invasive than the culture of America, so I didn’t really find myself overstepping. However, it did beg the question of how to be respectful to other cultures considering one’s own cultural background and limitations. Finally, studying abroad gave me the ability to understand a world so much greater than myself. The scenes I saw, the moments I was a part of, the conversations I had, and the places I traveled to will stick with me in my heart for the rest of my life. Traveling made me consider deeper questions and drove me to explore and learn in every part of my life. I truly learned more about myself and myself in the context of everything else than I could’ve elsewhere. That's why studying abroad is important to me.