I distinctly remember one of the orientation meetings from the first week of my study abroad program. We met with a psychologist who works closely with our program.
“First, everything will be new and exciting. Then it will get old and annoying. And then it will be the last week and you’ll think about how much you have to do and you won’t feel ready to go,” he said.
Sound familiar? Speaking for myself, I feel like I have my routine and things aren’t so new anymore. I wouldn’t go as far as to say that it is “annoying,” but it’s definitely at the point where things are kind of dull and I need something to spruce things up.
Seeing as how it’s the “halfway point” of the semester, I decided it was a good time to put on my thinking hat. I went back through my thoughts from the beginning of the semester, questioning everything from why I came to Israel, whether I was accomplishing my goals, whether I had new goals, you name it.
At first, I was upset that so much time has gone by and that half of the semester has flown past my eyes. There are so many things I told myself that I wanted to do that I haven’t done yet! But rather than feeling stressed and overwhelmed, I realized that it was a good thing that I reevaluated my thoughts because I still have half the semester left. I know how fast my time is going and I know that if I want to do something, now is the time.
For example, two of my friends (who are studying in Jordan, just a 45 minute plane ride) and I have been talking about visiting each other in our host countries since last spring when we realized how close we would be to each other. About a week and a half ago, I contacted my friends and asked them about what weekends work for them. We did our planning and I’m set to go to Amman next Thursday.
Furthermore, I thought back to my main reason for coming here: I want to make a positive impact on Israeli society, in some capacity. I decided that my volunteer work filing folders wasn’t satisfying. I went and talked to the internship/volunteer work coordinator and she completely understood my concerns. We went back to square one and thought about other opportunities I could pursue. After a few phone calls, I had a new internship. I just went to my first day today and learned more about the organization and I am SO excited to start working with them. I feel like it is the perfect type of environment for me, I’ll get practice in the professional world, and it’s somewhere I can do something positive. (In case you’re curious, I’m interning in the development office at NATAL, which is an amazing organization that provides counseling for victims of terror and war. I’ll blab more about NATAL in another entry, because there is such a need for relief services right now. But if you can’t wait, check out their website: http://www.natal.org.il/english/) J
On the note of getting involved and doing something positive for Tel Aviv, I wanted to share a little bit about my roommate, Mercedes. She grew up in Paris (but her parents are American), so she speaks French and English fluently (oh yeah, and Italian). Plus, she’s learning Arabic here. Anyways, she was having trouble finding a volunteer opportunity somewhere she loved. One day, she stumbled upon an independent school in Jaffa (an area in the southern part of the city) called College des Frères. The school has a diverse student body; some students are Arab and some are Jewish. Meanwhile, there is a huge French component to the curriculum. The school prepares the students for both the Israeli and French baccalaureates. Back to the point…she literally walked into the school and asked if she could volunteer. She took COMPLETE initiative and now she goes and reads French fairytale books to the younger students to get them started on the language. The children love her! Mercedes showed us all that it is so easy to find opportunities to get involved if you take control.
Whether we like it or not, the halfway point is here. So whether you need to make those travel plans, or find better internship/volunteer opportunity, seize the moment!
To an exciting and enriching second half,
Charlotte