Hey everyone,
My name is Isaac Schapiro and I am from Bellingham, a thriving city, about an hour and a half north of Seattle in the lovely state of Washington. I spent my first semester in Tel Aviv, and now I’m living in Jerusalem. I hope to attend IDC Herzliya next year and major in Business.
When deciding what to do after high school, I was in a bit of a rut. All of my friends were thinking about their top choices for college, and what they wanted to major in, but I really didn’t know what I wanted. After giving it a lot of thought, I knew that participating in a gap year program was the right thing for me, even if it meant going against the norms. When on my search, I realized that there is no better place to find myself than the home of my people, Israel.
My first semester in Tel Aviv was a movie, and I really mean that. I look back at the first day, September 2nd, and the feeling that I had when the plane finally landed at Ben Gurion Airport – I had a strong feeling of excitement, for new beginnings. And what a wild ride it has been. I have met some of the most amazing people here, most of whom will be friends for life. Tel Aviv turned me into a city person, I loved stepping out of my apartment on Herzl street to the noise of traffic and people honking their horns (literally every Israeli driver), and being able to walk down the block to so many amazing restaurants and bars. And although I may have spent a lot of nights out at Lighthouse and F & P, it was worth it. One of my favorite things about Aardvark is the trips every Tuesday, and some of the most memorable were probably one of our many trips to the Negev where we went to the sand dunes, and our trip to Caesarea.
Moving to Jerusalem has been wonderful, even if it meant saying goodbye to Florentine, and some of my best friends. My new internship working in the Investor Relations department at OurCrowd (a venture capital investment company), has been really meaningful and has given me a more stable idea of what I want to do for my career. I am really excited to continue to learn at OurCrowd and delve deeper into the investment world. I still have 3 more months here in Jerusalem and I cannot wait for the adventures that lie ahead.
A piece of advice that I would give to a potential student interested in doing a gap year in Israel would be to really soak it in. Time is really valuable, and it goes by way too quickly. Don’t spend your time looking forward to all of the amazing things coming up in the following weeks rather spend your time focusing on the here and now.
