Hi my name is Eden Chai, and I am from Los Angeles, California. Both of my parents grew up in Israel and moved to Los Angeles after completing their army service. My parents are the only siblings in their families who did not return to Israel after the army. Therefore, I was constantly going back and forth to visit my extended family. Until this day, my parents only speak to me in Hebrew. Israeli culture has really permeated throughout our home and has given me a unique sense of Zionism. I attended a private Jewish day school until the ninth grade, and had the privilege of going to a sleep-away Jewish summer camp (Camp Ramah) every summer since 2008.
This past year, applying to college was a very confusing and frustrating process. I did not know what I wanted. I was hearing so many different things about schools and I began to get overwhelmed. I applied to a number of colleges in the United States but growing up I never had a dream school, and I didn’t find one that was right for me. I was not one of those students who had a so called “dream school” that I worked extremely hard to get into. I was still undecided on which college I was going to commit to. Around March 2015, one of my friends from Ramah, Coby, who attended IDC Herzliya this past year told me about the Business Administration program and how I could learn in English and live in Israel. He directed me to other people with whom I could speak to and I began making phone calls and researching reviews online. The idea of studying in Israel, being with my family, and even more importantly being able to live in the Jewish homeland freely, sounded like a dream. So I started to make it happen.
I applied to many scholarships and spoke with my family in Israel about helping me get an apartment. Slowly but surely, everything started to fall into place. And here I am, finally starting to build my career! My favorite thing about studying in Israel is the feeling of Jewish freedom that took over me the second I landed in Ben Gurion on August 19. It brings me so much joy when I am walking to the bank and an orthodox Rabbi offers to help me put on tefillin. It is truly such a beautiful thing, and I could not be happier with my decision to study in Israel.Click Here To Sign Up