Everyone who has experienced birthright attests to the incredible experiences had by all—the sights, the fun, the atmosphere all make for an amazing trip. Yet, before the trip begins, many of us are faced with anxiousness and nervousness for what is ahead of us.
Birthright will be the most magical ten days of our lives and we will come together as one entity, I am sure of it!
In a few days, we will head to our respective airports for our departure to Ben Gurion Airport in Tel-Aviv. I am very much looking forward to meeting the rest of the group because I anticipate making new friends whom I will share a wonderful series of memories with. However, with all of these expectations, I find myself getting nervous simply because this experience can be extremely eye opening, which can be life changing. After speaking with many of my friends who have been on Birthright, they have all spoken very highly of every moment spent with the group as well as the growth they had on a personal level.
The personal growth is what I look forward to most. As an incoming college senior, I have a core group of friends while constantly expanding that group, welcoming others in. I know that I will have another core friend group post-Birthright, but I am positive that the growth I will experience as an individual will be just as exciting as making new friends will. As many other Jewish youths attending Birthright trips, I will be extending my trip in Israel to take in fully all it has to offer. Whether you plan on extending or not, you will have the time of your life, but I definitely recommend considering an extension—all of my friends who extended in the past have.
My thoughts behind extending my trip were influenced by my friends’ encouragement, met with my own desires to explore the land of our people. As we all prepare to leave the United States in the hopes of learning more about our culture, religion, as well as ourselves, I have incredible hopes and expectations for our entire group! I do not doubt for a moment that we will have an amazing experience together as one cohesive unit. I look forward to meeting everyone!