BY
EMMA
MATI
VISUAL STATEMENT:
GAP YEAR ABROAD
MOUNT OF OLIVES JEWISH
CEMETERY, JERUSALEM
STREET VENDOR, VARANASI
BAPTISM, QASR AL-YAHUD, JORDAN RIVER VALLEY
TOUR GUIDE,
DELPHI
CHOUARA
TANNERY,
FEZ
OLIVE HARVEST,
GARDEN OF
GETHSAME,
JERUSALEM
AT THE END OF MY SENIOR YEAR
OF HIGH SCHOOL, I DECIDED THAT I
WOULD NOT GO STRAIGHT TO
COLLEGE. INSTEAD, I WOULD TAKE A
GAP YEAR. MY GAP YEAR PROGRAM –
KIVUNIM: NEW DIRECTIONS – WAS A
YEAR-LONG EDUCATION AND TRAVEL
PROGRAM BASED IN JERUSALEM. I,
ALONG WITH 52 OTHER STUDENTS,
LEARNED ABOUT JEWISH HISTORY AND STUDIED HEBREW AND ARABIC. BUT OUR LEARNING WASN’T
CONFINED TO THE CLASSROOM. WE TRAVELLED TO OVER 10 COUNTRIES – INCLUDING ALBANIA, INDIA
AND MOROCCO – IN ORDER TO LEARN FIRST-HAND ABOUT THE JEWISH COMMUNITIES IN THESE
COUNTRIES AS WELL AS OTHER RELIGIONS, CULTURES AND WORLDVIEWS. WORDS OFTEN FAIL TO
DESCRIBE MY YEAR AND THE IMPACT IT HAD ON MY LIFE. PHOTOGRAPHY ALLOWED ME TO CAPTURE
SMALL, MEANINGFUL MOMENTS THAT I CAN CARRY WITH ME FOREVER.
Wednesday, November 6, 2019 // The Statement
8B