My Story.

I truly am so excited about my presentation.  I always knew that I wanted to do something big for it when I started brainstorming my freshman year but I never thought it would be anything to this extent.

I am constantly reflecting on my life and am always so amazed by how far I have come.  I have always been a planner and a dreamer and I could have never dreamed that this is how I would end my high school career.

Four years ago, I was this shy and lonely freshman who just wanted to get by in high school and become a teacher.  In my sophomore year, I was given multiple opportunities such as my Personal Inquiry Project (thanks Mrs. Stewart) and being able to travel to Nicaragua for a service learning trip with my synagogue.  This began to slowly peel away the blinders that I had on.

My junior year was when it ALL changed. I had the experience of a lifetime where I was able to study in Israel, the Jewish homeland for four months.  When reflecting with a friend a few weeks ago, I realized that as much as the entire experience of being in Israel changed me for the better, the most transformative part was the healing process that took place afterward.

Unfortunately, some situations in Israel really took a turn on my mental health and that on top of the HUGE culture shock, I was left with a feeling of loneliness, helplessness, and hopelessness.

I have never shared this before but my W.I.S.E project has given me the platform and the comfort to do so.  

With this, I spent and continue to spend countless amount of hours and time working on acclimating myself back to America’s trying to figure out who my friends were, and trying to let go of the fear that I had built up.  

This presentation is a reflection and a collection of who I have created myself to be when  “forced” to heal after my experience in Israel. This presentation will show the main reason to have I have started to elevate my life and begin to pursue the greatest version of my own life.

I am eternally grateful for each and every experience that I have ever had.  Everything that has happened in my life has happened with a purpose and it has guided me down that path that I was meant to be on, not that path that I thought I should be on.

I wake up every morning and say “Today is the first day of the rest of my life” and Thursday, April 25th, 2019 will be the greatest first day of the rest of my life.