With AP Tests and finals coming up, I’ve realized how much time this trip has taken away from potential study time. I have been raised believing that the score you get reflects how much effort that has been put in. So, if you try your hardest every time, then most likely you will get a good grade. Now, even when I’m trying my hardest, I fear that my grade on AP Tests will be lower than average simply because of the lack of time on EIE. However, I must also take into account that this trip is an experience unlike anything else. I get to experience Judaism in the land created for Jews, which is something that many american Jews will never live through. Although there is less free time, wherever we go there is more history to be learned. Every step we take in Jerusalem could be when King David, Joshua, or Solomon once stood.
This experience has made me realize that although school is important, it is not as important as America makes it seem. The focus in schools is constantly on tests and grades, and which student has the does the most extracurriculars. Everyone in your high school is a competitor, and you all compete for the Ivy Leagues or some other well known college. America has made education a monopoly: those students who want to go to college pay thousands of dollars for private tutors and SAT prep courses. This 4 month program has introduced me to the idea that there are more options than college after High School. It has also enhanced the idea that school should be about learning, not about the grade that comes from it. Israelis know this, and that probably contributes to their generally “non-caring” attitudes towards what other people, including teachers and professors, think. Now that it is May, I’m glad that I’ve realized that school is important, but not as important as maturing and discovering who you are.
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