Week 1 (A week late)

Hello everyone! 

I am so sorry that this blog post is a week late; I had some trouble registering for the course. I want to start off by introducing myself. 

My name is Alicia Carter and I am about to turn 25 years old (5 days from now!). I was born in Baltimore, MD, raised in Knoxville, TN, and am now living in Haifa, Israel. My reason for joining MITF is because I am planning on making Aliyah after the program concludes (actually, the whole reason I found out about the program is because of my Aliyah interview at The Jewish Agency). 

Being here is a dream come true for me. I went on Taglit when I was 18 and fell in love with everything Israel had to offer. I came back to the country when I was 22 on a P2G program based in Hadera, where I got to volunteer in a preschool for 10 days. That experience reminded me of how much I love Israel and how badly I wanted to return permanently. After the program, I returned back to Knoxville, where I graduated from the University of Tennessee with my Bachelor of Science in Social Work. With my new degree, I was ready to take on the world and there wasn't a single person who could stop me. 

When I told my family my plans about coming here and making Aliyah, I was not surprised when they immediately supported my decision. My family has always been so supportive of my decisions (even when they know I will fail) because they want me to grow and become the best possible version of myself. Honestly, I've really been missing them the past few weeks. I try to Skype with them once a week, but now that classes have started I have less free time than I used to. I'm sure I'm not the only one facing this issue though; everyone here left people behind when they decided to come teach in Israel for a year.

On the flip side, I am so excited to finally start classes and be registered. This semester started out very rocky because I had to miss the first week of classes and missed registration. I was only able to access my classes last night and it made me feel so behind. I honestly forgot what it felt like to be in college. I have to readjust myself back to that time and re-learn/teach myself how to balance work, school, and free time. I am really looking forward to this year and all of the experiences I will have not only teaching, but also learning. I hope to share stories with my peers and gain new perspectives and insights to the world of teaching!