The Best Israel Gap Year Program

Aardvark is a gap year program for those who want a year of INDEPENDENCE, growth, and life experience while having a semblance of a support system for help when necessary. Do not go on Aardvark expecting the program to coddle you to overcome every little challenge of living on your own. Aardvark provides housing in excellent locations, varying internships, and immerses you within a community of other aardvark students. In jerusalem, the apartments where just a 10 minute walk from the shuk and about 30 minutes from the Kotel. Tel Aviv apartments are in the heart of Florentine, surrounded by fun bars and amazing restaurants, not to mention a 10 minute walk from the beach and other fun spots in telaviv. Living in these apartments gives students a taste of living on their own after college. The apartments housed between 3-5 people and in living there, students had to learn to grocery shop, cook, clean up after themselves, and be a good roomate- all necessary and fundamental skills to know when living on your own. There are so many hidden benefits to taking a gap year and aardvark provides just enough independence to allow students to grow while also providing a community to make the transition into a new country easy. Many complained “i might as well have gone to israel alone and found my own internship and apartment” which is such bs because it is extremely scary moving to a new country alone with no community or friends! Living in an aardvark building with all other aardvark students made it extremely easy to make AMAZING and lifelong friendships who become a new family. Aardvark didnt organize many ice breakers or get to know you activities so it was really on the students to make plans and forge friendships, which also is initially a challenge after having friends essentially handed to you throughout high school. The counselors also live in the buildings and play more of a cool older sibling role than an actual authoritarian role. I must say Aardvark does an EXCELLENT job of hiring the coolest, friendliest, and most down to earth counselors who genuinely want to help and also be your best friend. You can reach out to them whenever necessary but they wont solve your problems for you- remember your an adult on a gap year! The madrichim will give students tools to figure out their own problems unless it is an emergency, but they are not someone to unload every little problem on. Lets be honest, the average person who can afford to go on these programs is likely very privileged and used to having someone take care of everything on their behalf, and so a gap year is the perfect time to learn independence. The internships where very hit or miss depending on how determined the students where to find a good internship and actually GO to their internship. Heres a secret, Aardvark is ALL ABOUT WHAT YOU MAKE OF IT. As a prospective journalism major at the university of maryland, i was very adamant on getting an internship in the journalism field that was in person and would provide hands on experience. I was lucky enough to cop an internship at i24NEWS, where i gained extremely valuable exposure to the field. I helped edit and produce news packages and even had some of my packages air on TV! Working in a newsroom environment and learning about the field through conversations with the journalists gave me incredible insight on what it would be like to pursue this career path. This was an incredible way to network within the field and i know i am always welcome back at i24NEWS if i ever find myself back in israel. I now have some experience under my belt before college and an incredible internship on my resume.
On the topic of Aardvarks actual programming, let me just say there wasn’t much. There are once a week trips planned by the program that where usually disorganized and honestly super boring. We didnt go on the classic birthright trips, they took us on ~different~ trips to help immerse us into israeli society- but most of these trips where very draining and seemed like a general waste or time. Many students skipped the tiyols because of the reputation tiyol Tuesday had built as being lame. It is important to note i went on aardvark during the peak of covid and a lot of their usual programming was canceled or restructured to fit the countries regulations. But i had heard from previous years rhat tiyol tuesdays where generally disorganized. The best trips i went on where spontaneous underplanned weekend getaways with my friends- but just a warning YOU WILL HAVE TO PAY out of your own pocket for these trips. Beware of the hidden extra 10k cost of aardvark from monthly spending on groceries, going out, eating, trips etc. Aardvark is a very expensive program in and of itself and for the future they should really consider including food stipens as part of the current cost as many would agree there is a severe discrepancy between what the program provides and the programs price. Besides that concern, overall i had the most amazing time on aardvark and i truly believe i grew as a person this past year because of the program i decided to take. If you are debating between year course and aardvark- go on aardvark. From what i can understand year course was more involved in their students lives- still not a lot but more so than aardvark- and it can hinder gap year growth- for starters the program purchased the students groceries on their behalf. But to each his own and their is a program out there for everyone.
I am grateful that i can reflect and realize i have come a long way from who i was pre gap year and am glad i was able to be a hot mess for a year before entering college. Aardvark is the BEST israel gap year and i would 10/10 recomend to anyone!!!