My time with OTZMA

The first 3 months of OTZMA were in a beach city called Ashquelon living in a dorms with all the other participants. A typical day was waking up and going to Ulpan for about 3 or 4 hours. The teacher was engaging and understanding of our different skills set. Then we would have time to rest and go volunteer.
Since our main objective the first 3 months was to learn Hebrew, I volunteered twice a week along with another participant from our program coaching youth soccer at the local sports center. We had a good time helping out the kids with their soccer skills, and I even learned some Hebrew.
When I wasn't at Uplan or volunteering I took full advantage of exploring the city, especially the beach. One of the highlights of OTZMA was about once a week during our first 3 months we would go on field trips to see different parts of the regions and get different perspectives from the various cultures in Israeli society.
The next 4 months I moved to a different city up in the north called Carmiel, where I lived with 2 other participants. 5 days a week we would be volunteering in various places; a kibbutz for adults with special needs, a local high school, a Bedouin community, an after school program and a foster home. These were very meaningful experiences that gave me great introspection while helping others.
The final months I spent in Tel Aviv, where I interned for a newspaper. It was a fast paced work environment, which I truly enjoyed. I was glad that Tel Aviv was saved for last because it was such a big bustling city compared to the first 2 cities I volunteered at, and it was a nice way to end the program.
The 10 months flew by, I learned so much, made a ton of new friends and gained once in a life time experience. It was amazing!