My name is Ella Newell am originally from West Chester, Pennsylvania, and today I live in Herzliya, Israel.
I attended Aardvark Israel in the Fall of 2019, until the Spring of 2020.
After finishing high school I decided I wanted to take a year to discover more of my Jewish identity and see how it played into my future before attending college. While looking into gap year programs, Aardvark really stuck out to me because of the internship opportunities, so I inevitably decided to do my gap year there. My gap year experience definitely changed my life. I made lifetime friends and matured my identity not only as a Jew but as an adult in today’s society. On top of this, I fell in love with Israel and inevitably decided to make Aliyah and draft into the Israeli Defense Forces.
Today I am serving as a combat soldier in the Home Front Command and Search and Rescue unit. Following my service I plan on attending school here in Israel.
