“Wait, there’s dairy dinner in the 215 caf?”
“There are shuttles that can take me around within campus?!”
“Huh? What’s an sstud? And why are they taking over my YU inbox?”
These are just a few of the questions perplexing the approximately 50 students who have just arrived at Stern this semester. The Shana Bet experience is a unique, religiously enlightening, and intense growing experience. Contrary to what many may think, Shana Bet is far from just a continuation of Shana Aleph. However, returning back to Stern, and being the “new girl” in an environment where most of your friends have already had first semester to acclimate, can be challenging.
After spending a year in Migdal Oz, it was obvious to me that I wanted another semester to learn and be in Israel. Having been in the Israeli mindset, I felt no pressure to start college immediately. Although my parents were wary about letting me stay, knowing that Stern would give me credit for my extra semester was the ultimate deal maker. It was the perfect compromise. I would get my extra semester, while technically getting a semester worth of credit from Stern. What could be better? Friends warned me that coming to Stern halfway through the year was difficult. But I did not care; the prospect of getting to stay another half a year in Israel seemed undeniably worthwhile.
My first week in Stern was disorienting. My friends seemed to have “the whole college thing” completely dialed in and were settled. They made new friends, were involved in new clubs, and everyone seemed to be on a set academic trajectory. However, I was the new girl. I wandered in the hallways with a schedule clutched in my hand, while asking random girls if they could point me in the direction of the right classroom. Each time I saw a girl who I knew had also just gotten back from Shana Bet, we would exchange the same understanding look. No matter how amazing we knew Stern could be, we wanted to go back to Israel.
I missed my makom in the Beit Midrash, the Israeli friends I left behind, and the warm familiar community that surrounded me. Upon entering my first few classes, it became extremely evident that I had lost studying and writing abilities, along with my attention span. There were so many event invites sent to my email, and so many flyers flashing weird unidentifiable club acronyms all over the walls. After leaving High School I had felt invincible. Now, I was suddenly finding myself scrambling to just get from class to class on time. Being in this new world, I soon started losing sight of the amazing experience I had in Israel. I found myself asking the question I had never thought I would ask: was it really worth it?
As the weeks pass, I am starting to come to an important realization. Entering this dramatically different environment only two weeks after I got back from Israel, had made it seem as though my prior experience was part of the past. However, those experiences and lessons I learned in Israel can be incorporated into an integral part of my time in Stern. Due to those powerful experiences, I have a different perspective and sharpened passions. The unique experience of staying in Israel will only continue to enrich further my experience in Stern. Maybe, what I need to help smooth the transition is to find a way to take my prior experience and utilize it in the many resources Stern has to offer. Maybe by joining a club? Maybe by taking a class in a subject I really loved to learn in Israel? Either way, I have options.
Leaving Israel was hard. And every new beginning has its challenges. But the next time someone asks me, “Hey, how’s Stern going?” I can hold my head up and answer, “Right now it’s hard, but I know it is going to be great.”