The First Year

This past week marked exactly one year from the day I boarded a plane and said goodbye to my old life, making aliya to Israel.

I still don't quite believe that writing this post, to be completely honest. I remember carefully planning out the post I wrote the night before my flight, having gone over every detail in my head hundreds of times. I could never have planned out this post even if I tried, having just finished one of the most unpredictable, crazy, amazing years of my life.

Looking back on my first year in a new home, the highlights seem unreal to me. I've done things this past year that I could never have imagined doing in a lifetime:

I moved to a new country, absorbed into a new culture, and learned a new language.

I enlisted in a foreign army, trying out for the unit of my dreams and earning a spot.

I've shot rifles hundreds of times, thrown grenades, been tear-gassed, climbed mountains and done multi-brigade level combat exercises.

I've walked hundreds of kilometers, in the capacity of masaot and training weeks in the field.

I've jumped out of planes five times on my own, two of the jumps being at night, earning the wings of the Israeli Paratroopers.

Finally, on Wednesday this week, I will be marching to earn the red beret I've dreamed of for years, the true culmination of this past year.

It's hard to describe how it feels to watch the first year come to a close. Along with the accomplishments, I've dealt with struggles far beyond the ordinary, homesickness, physical and mental stress beyond explanation, and the general challenges of living independently. All of the struggles have only proven to have made me a stronger person, a stronger soldier, and I hope to be better off for them.

While many people ask, I don't know if I've changed. On one hand, I'm still the very same person who boarded the plane one year ago. I like the same foods, I laugh at the same jokes, I get along with the same friends, and generally live the same way (with the exception of the whole army thing!). On the other hand, I think it's very difficult NOT to change in some way after going through some of the challenges of training and being exposed to life in the army, even if it's just in life perspective.

I've learned to trust a group of guys my age on a level I've never known, as well as have their trust in me that I will protect their lives at all costs. I've witnessed the love a country has for it's soldiers, evidenced by civilians who consistently make everything worth it; from the cab driver who refuses a soldiers fare to the man at the gas station who comes up just to say thanks. If trust and the pride and love of serving a nation are the only changes I've seen in myself, I can't complain.

I look back on the year with the fondest of memories, with pride for what has passed and motivation for what's to come. I'm looking forward to see which new highlights I'll add in the next year. If it passes by as fast as the last did, I could be writing the year two post sooner than I expect.

The next post I write will be after the Masa Kumta, the march to earn our berets followed by the ceremony in Jerusalem. This is still very surreal to me, just how quickly everything has happened.

I want to conclude this post with a quick thank-you to all of you, the readers. Whether you read the blog occasionally, regularly, have glanced by once or twice, left comments, or have any other connection to these posts, thank you. I can't count on two hands the number of times I've struggled through serious challenges in the army, pushing myself through by looking forward to writing about it. While the blog is obviously a tool to inform friends, family, and strangers alike about my life and experiences in the army, it's also become an introspective tool for me. The reactions from all of you and simply knowing you're out there reading and supporting us helps keep me going.

Once again, a big thank you.

Until next time for the first post in red!

-Brett