#sha'alvim

After attending a year and a half at Sha'alvim in Jerusalem, I knew that I wanted to end up in Israel. Of course, I needed a game plan. While almost all of my friends moved back to America for university, after many hours of research, I decided to pursue my university education here. Ultimately, it seemed most logical to stay in Israel and start to build my life here - before accruing college debt, integrating into a community or buying a home. Staying in Israel after seminary meant that I didn't have a job to quit, a family to move or debts to repay. 

I applied to the law program at Bar-Ilan University (which, parenthetically, does not require an undergraduate degree or LSATs), and was accepted right before getting onto my Nefesh B'Nefesh flight. My Hebrew skills were far from perfect - but after sitting through lectures every day, (trying) to write papers and conversing with my peers, it improved quickly. The other students were always making efforts to help me along and email me their notes. Three and a half challenging years later, I graduated Bar-Ilan with absolutely no university debt (as the degree was paid for by the State of Israel as part of the Oleh benefits that I was entitled to). Following my formal education, I performed a year long internship (as required by the Israeli bar association), and then spent two months studying for the Bar Exam itself. I recently passed and am now officially a certified Israeli lawyer!