My name is Lauren Cayle and I’m from Milwaukee, Wisconsin but I now to go school in Washington, DC. I did my gap year with Aardvark Israel last school year, 2020-2021.
I chose Aardvark because I didn’t want to do online classes in college and I wanted a year to explore and grow without the pressure of being in college at the same time. I chose Aardvark Israel because I loved how they emphasized the importance of living like a local, the free time we were able to have, and having an internship. I also loved how I was going to get the opportunity to live in both Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, as well as travel around Israel, too.
These days, I am in school at American University, along with seven other students from Aardvark, coincidentally! I am majoring in Sociology in hopes to become a speech-language pathologist.
Aardvark played a huge role in furthering my connection to Israel and helping me grow personally. I gained so much experience that I never would have gotten the opportunity to experience in college and the internships were definitely my favorite part. I was able to reconnect with my family in Israel and make new friends who became my new family, too. I am so grateful I was able to go on Aardvark, and I can’t wait to get back to Israel!
