Reflections on My Time at Hebrew University
By Amir Wachtel, Kingston, Ontario
In reflecting on the five months I spent living in Jerusalem and studying at Hebrew University in the winter and spring of 2015, I keep returning to the theme of horizons. I think of the stunning sunsets I saw over the horizon on trips with friends to northern Israel and Mitzpeh Ramon in the south, and every night over Jerusalem itself.
I think of days and evenings spent with my roommates and closest friends on the beach in Tel Aviv, laughing and soaking in the sun and gazing at the ocean as it stretches to the edge of the horizon, as far as the eye could see. And I think about how my time in Israel allowed me to expand my own intellectual, social and emotional horizons.
I enrolled in courses that were unrelated to my major of microbiology and immunology, touring the ruins of Jerusalem’s City of David in an archeology course and learning about the psychology behind decision-making in neuroeconomics.
I became good friends with people from walks of life vastly different from my own and immersed myself in Israeli culture: attending political rallies and concerts, making Knafé in my apartment with my roommates and neighbours, walking the streets and alleyways of every quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City, and always hunting for the best hummus I could find.
My time at Hebrew U was one of joyful growth and exploration and I have no doubt that I will continue to lean back on the lessons I learned there as I dive head-first into the adventures on the horizon.
Amir is a third-generation HU alum, following in the footsteps of his mother, (Dina Wachtel, CFHU Executive Director, Western Region) and his late grandfather. Amir is currently a first-year medical student at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario.