When you went on a Birthright Israel trip and with which organizer: I went on Birthright through Mayanot in the Summer of 2012.


Why did you decide to go to Israel: Birthright is such an amazing opportunity…how could you not do it? I always knew I wanted to visit Israel and Birthright seemed like the perfect trip. I got to travel all around the country and do such fun things, like camel riding, climbing Masada and going to the Dead Sea.


Why did you decide to return to Israel and What trip did you do- Tell us about it!: I had to do an internship to finish my undergrad degree from Indiana University and they really encourage students to do it abroad. I decided to take that opportunity and intern in Israel. I went on a Masa program called Real Life Israel, where I got to live and intern in Jerusalem for 6 weeks during the summer of 2014. Immediately when I got home in August, I knew I wanted to go back and I started planning my next trip. I went on a program called Israel 2.0 this past winter for two weeks, where we got to travel the country for the first week and during the second week we stayed in Jerusalem and took classes in the heart of the Old City.


Your favorite trip memory/funniest story: My favorite memory from Israel 2.0 was in Tel Aviv on our second night. We were staying in a hotel right on the beach and a group of us decided to go down to the beach and went swimming in the middle of the night! It was so spontaneous and totally something we would only do in Israel.


You are from: I’m from Northbrook, IL (suburb of Chicago). I just graduated from Indiana University in August 2014.


Where you are living now: I’m currently living back home in Northbrook


How you pay the bills: I’m a grad student so I’m not paying any bills yet


Favorite food from Israel: HUMMUS and fresh pita from the Shuk


Your claim to fame/fun fact: I have a knack for finding celebrities wherever I go and getting a picture with them. Kanye West, Anna Kendrick, Emma Stone, Matt Damon…just to name a few.