I am now a week and a half away from embarking on my next adventure and I’ve been reflecting on my decision to go to Tel Aviv University for graduate school. Although I've wanted to go back to school for awhile, it wasn’t an easy decision.
When I first looked into graduate programs, I knew I had a proclivity towards social psychology, languages, and different cultures, but I had no idea how to culminate those interests into a degree. When I returned from my first trip to Israel at the end of 2016, I leafed through an Israeli graduate school brochure I had picked up at the Jewish Federation in LA. There were a couple of programs that sounded interesting, but I kept coming back to this Conflict Resolution and Mediation program. “You can major in that?” I thought to myself. I loved that it combined psychology with political science, sociology, diplomacy, and so many other areas of the social sciences. Not only that, but the classes, professors, and chance to live in a new culture thrilled me. The application process was fairly easy: application, letters of recommendation, official transcripts (no GRE, thank goodness). I was accepted in April and, although I was thrilled, the financial cost held me from making my final decision until July. I worked for three years at dead end jobs to save up the money I’m now using for my higher education, and to be honest, I wasn’t sure I wanted to part with that money. In addition, when you study in Israel under a student visa, you cannot work in the country, so there would be no way to support myself besides using my savings. A lot of doubt filled my mind. What if I can get a free education elsewhere? Should I defer a year in order to save up more? I kept waiting for a sign to appear that would make me 100% sure I was making the right decision, but it never came. I realized that, as long as I was paying for it out of my savings, it would never feel completely right because it is a lot of money and I know how hard I worked to earn it. At the same time, I couldn’t bear the thought of waiting one more year to go back to school. Would my savings better serve me sitting in my bank account or allowing me to have life changing experiences? So I accepted attendance to Tel Aviv University’s MA in Conflict Resolution and Mediation program class of 2018. This was an essential learning experience for me. Sometimes you need to make tough decisions in which there is no perfect solution. Sometimes you have to make the best choice with the information you have. There is privilege and freedom in being able to make huge choices that effect your life. Yes, that much responsibility can also be scary, but own your choices. It feels empowering to own them. It is a decision all your own and, whether the result leads to success or failure, at least it was your lesson to learn. You will have gained something for learning it. |
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