Adventure. This is the best way to describe my Israel Experience. From the initial arrival and commute to Jerusalem, I was sure this was going to be an exciting and challenging journey. I was thrilled to meet new people and get to know the group I would be becoming close with over the next ten months. The first days proved to encompass not only meeting new people, but a full acclimation to a cultural, city, apartment, and a shift in my life.

Masa Israel Teaching Fellows is a unique experience. It allows its participants to come and create a life in a fascinating new place. The program gives fellows and teachers an apartment, a job, and a community. The rest of it is up to the individual.

My experience with Israel Experience and Masa Israel Teaching Fellows in Haifa has been extremely rewarding. In many ways, this program has exceeded my expectations, including those I had set for myself. Living so far from home for the first time, and in Israel specifically has been very challenging but has taught me so many valuable life lessons.

I didn’t want to leave college and was nervous about what I should do this year. Then I decided to join MITF with Israel Experience and am so happy with how things turned out.

Last year, staring at the Masa Israel Teaching Fellows with Israel Experience website, I didn’t actually think I would do it… leave home for ten whole months — for Israel? I needed to practice Spanish, not Hebrew. But in the middle of the Boston winter, the Mediterranean seemed pretty enticing. So I signed up and started searching for flights.