One Day More

Sorry for the title; it is just my musical theatre nerd side. (It is a song from Les Miserables.) ANYWAY, we leave tomorrow! I can't believe how fast time has flown since I first found out I was accepted into the Onward Israel program. If you know me you know that I am still not fully packed, and that deciding which precious items of clothing to leave behind has been weighing heavily on my mind for days. I mean I am packing for two whole months! But then of course you have to think about all of the shopping that I am sure to be doing throughout those two months...and this is the vicious packing cycle I have been in all week.

Since my last post, I have gotten a few more "About Me" responses from the other interns. It is still not everyone, but this gives you a pretty good idea of the diverse group of interns we have! Just to remind you, these are the questions I asked each of them to answer:

1. Where do you go to school, what year, and what major?
2. What is your internship?
3. What are you most excited for?
4. What are you most anxious/nervous for?

Aaron Frankel:
1. I'm a rising sophomore studying business and political science.
2. I will be interning with a consulting company.
3. I'm really excited to get some experience in the business world while exploring Israel.
4. I wouldn't say I'm really nervous about anything, but I'm not sure how well I'll be able to navigate the city.





Shira Spiegel:
1. I'm a senior at Tulane University double majoring in Education and Jewish Studies.
2. I am interning at Chimes working with Special Needs kids.
3. I am most excited for the experience of living in Israel and immersing in the culture as well as making friends and seeing all of my Israeli friends. I am also very excited for my internship and to gain more experience working with children with special needs.
4. I'm most nervous about my Hebrew abilities. I have a hunch that the students I will be working with will not know English, so I will have to talk to them in my limited Hebrew. I am excited for the chance to hopefully improve my knowledge and ability to speak in Hebrew but also very nervous for how I will do.

Nikki Fisher:
1. Tulane University, rising senior, majoring in Studio Art with a minor in sociology and Jewish studies.
2. I will be interning for MTV Israel.
3. I am most excited for my internship and to get to experience living in Israel in a more permanent and less touristic way.
4. I am a little nervous at my lack of memory on my Hebrew.

Emily Gilgoff:
1. Ohio University, junior, communication studies
2. English On Stage Theater Company
3. I am most excited to travel and explore.
4. I'm a little nervous to live abroad.







L'hitraot,

Abby

Six Days!

In six days Onward Israel Cincinnati will be on our way to Israel! But first, let's talk about today. Today our entire group met up for the first time! We finally got our itineraries and were able to ask any questions we had about our trip. We are doing some incredible things in these next two months!

In honor of meeting my fellow interns today I thought I would introduce you to some of them. I asked each of them to answer these four questions:

1. Where do you go to school, what year, and what major?

2. What is your internship?

3. What are you most excited for?

4. What are you most anxious/nervous for?

Ari Shifman:

1.Rising Senior at Tulane University studying Business Law

2. I am a marketing intern at Hewlett Packard.

3. I am most excited for the opportunity to learn and experience Tel Aviv and meet Israelis. 

4. Not anxious but would rather not have to commute 45 minutes everyday.

Noah Zelkind:

1. I'm a rising sophomore at New York University for Economics.

2. I'll be a finance and budgeting intern for Car2go.

3. I'm excited to get to experience Israel living on my own and to explore our homeland.

4.I'm excited about overcoming the American stereotype with the locals and finding some of the hidden treasures Israel no doubt harbors.

Daniel Valentini:

1. I'm going to be a junior next year at OSU and I'm a Computer Science major.

2. I am working at Liquee Technologies to work on their kitchenbug app.

3. I am excited for just living in Israel, trying new food, and the nightlife in Tel Aviv.

4. I am a bit nervous about actually having to put what I've learned in college to use for the first time.

Justin Kirschner:

1. Rising 1st year Masters Student in Public Administration at Ohio University

2. I'm working at Goodvision, a consulting company focused on Corporate Social Responsibility.

3. I'm most looking forward to freedom to immerse myself into Israeli culture as well as the people I will meet.

4. Just anxious to see how it's going to be to live abroad!

Tessa Rothfeld:

1. I am a sophomore at the University of South Carolina. I am majoring in Biology and minoring in Business and military science.

2. Interning with Genome Compiler Software.

3. Most excited to be living in Tel Aviv by the beach.

4. Most anxious about using the bus system.

Chad Chessin:

1. I am a senior at the Ohio State University, studying Security & Intelligence, Political Science, and Middle East Studies.

2. My internship position is Strategic Intelligence Analyst intern at a private company called Wikistrat.

3. I am most excited to get hands-on experience in the realm of intelligence, learning in an office full of people from all over the world with varying backgrounds and expertise.

4. I am not anxious about anything in particular, but change always gives rise to doubts that can only be alleviated with experience.

Jordan Della Bella:

1. I am starting my senior year (plus an extra semester) at Hocking College as an Ecotourism and Adventure Travel student.

2. My internship is at Kayak4all aiming to learn how to give sea kayak tours and potention stand up paddle tours.

3. I am most excited to learn new things and explore the wonderful city of Tel Aviv.

4. I am most anxious for living in a foreign country for an extended period of time and being able to navigate.

Sarah Deutsch:

1. I'm a rising sophomore at the University of Cincinnati, majoring in Mechanical Engineering.

2. I am interning at a company called Autodesk Israel which are the creators of many 2D and 3D modeling software programs (ex. AutoCAD).

3. I'm most excited to get back to Israel and be submerged into their everyday life, beyond tourism.

4. I'm most anxious about getting lost in the Tel Aviv port during my lunch breaks.

Jake LaFrance:

1. I am a junior at Miami University in Oxford, OH. I am an Information systems and analytics major with a Spanish minor.

2. My internship is with a start up company called Datonics.

3. I am most excited to be spending my summer in Israel and getting some tangible work experience in my field as opposed to spending my summer baking baguettes at Panera. 

4. I am most apprehensive about the potential language barrier while in Israel as I don't speak any Hebrew, but luckily many Israelis speak English. 

Daniel Roth:

1. I will be a senior at Miami U.

2. I am fortunate to have the opportunity to be working with Liora and Micah at Joy Records. 

3. I am very excited to meet new people, immerse myself culturally, and get my feet wet in the music industry.

4. I am also anxious about the language/culture barrier or possibly getting lost in the city.

Michelle Glazer:

1. I'm a senior at The Ohio State University majoring in early childhood education and I have a minor in Jewish studies.

2. I'm interning at the Women's International Zionist Organization (WIZO).

3. I'm excited to be back in Israel after 4 years, explore the area, and immerse myself in Israeli culture.

4. I'm nervous about living in a different country, but excited to experience something new!

This is less than half of the interns, but you will hear more about everyone soon! We are all so excited to share all of our experiences with all of you!

L'hitraot,

Abby