I've gone through a major change of setting in the past few months, going from a high school graduate to a college student. I've enrolled in classes and begun my new life, yet my focus is still on what lies ahead and preparing for the next big stage in my life: serving in the Israeli Defense Forces.
Why have I elected to attend college for one year? This is something I've been asked by several people who have been informed of my plans, and something I've thought about considerably since making this big decision. The answer has many levels which make clear sense to me, and will hopefully make sense to you.
A soldier from another country with no family living in Israel is called a “Chayal Boded,” a lone soldier. Basically, lone soldiers are given specific benefits to make them as comfortable as possible considering the truly “lonely” situation they find themselves in: living in a new country, a new culture, and not having anyone to go home to on a free weekend. Darren has been accelerated a year, on track to graduate this coming May. As you've read and will continue to read in the future, his intentions to serve are the same as mine. It made clear sense to me that I should wait a year before going to Israel, enabling us to go together and making the lonely aspect of the lone soldier life much easier to deal with for both of us.
Another factor in my decision was “the college life.” Initially, I battled with the decision of going to Israel right after high school or waiting to earn a degree first. Ultimately, I felt that going earlier would give me the best option to be able to come back after my service and ease into academic and professional life. As the decision to wait for Darren was already made, I had to decide what I would do in the year after high school. Attending college and earning credits would make it easier for me to enroll again when my service is complete, not having to apply again as a first-time freshman. Further, the credits earned will shorten the time my undergraduate degree takes to complete after my service. I still wanted to be sure that I was making the right decision in bypassing all four years of college. I decided that attending for a year and experiencing the college life would help me take comfort in my decision. I would be sure that it was the right one, and I would know what I'd be coming back to after my service, motivated to return and finish up my academic life. At this point, I'm sure my decision to go early is the right one.
Anything can happen while I'm in my service and I may decide to remain in Israel and pursue a different path in life or even attend college somewhere else. However, my current plan seems to be the best one for me at this point.
What am I doing now with almost exactly one year until my life in Israel begins? Besides for taking classes, I'm trying to make sure that my Hebrew will be a satisfactory level upon arrival in Israel. I'm currently taking weekly lessons, along with Darren, taught by a Hebrew professor at our school. My preparation is not solely mental and academic, however. I'm also beginning to train and get myself in good shape for the specific unit I'd like to join (which I'll discuss later, I promise!)
I will post more in the near future and explain why I've made the decision to go serve in the IDF as well as the program we plan on doing it with. A lot lies ahead for us in the next year and we hope to document every big step along the way!
-Brett
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