Garren K. – Boston Tel Aviv, Summer 2018

“My Onward Israel experience has been amazing so far. I work at SolView, a solar startup that makes financial and production estimates for solar arrays far easier. It has been a great way for me to gain experience in a professional environment that is similar to one I would want to join once I am out of school. Not to mention, I am building a professional skill-set, collaborating with an international team and working with basic graphic design.

Perhaps, my favorite part of the Onward program so far though has been the beach. As a born and bred Chicagoan, it is a nice change of pace to have warm water, big waves, and sunsets at the beach. Nothing beats hopping waves and sunbathing. The Tel Aviv’s nightlife has endless options of bars, restaurants, clubs, and classes. We also spend nights in singing next to the guitar, playing cards, and watching movies. My apartment cooks dinner at night and getting to know the other participants from the program has quickly become one of my favorite times of day.

I love exploring the city and familiarizing myself with my surroundings. Sometimes I take wrong turns, on purpose, to see where they go, hop on buses to suburbs to see what they look like, or walk new routes to places I’ve been before. Each time I see something new or exciting. The whole experience is also very humbling. Watching an apartment full of college aged students struggling to read the packaging at the grocery store hasn’t been a particularly unique occurrence in the last few weeks. It’s also been really interesting to relearn how to do really basic things the Israeli way, like standing in line or mopping the floor has been a fascinating learning opportunity to see examples of how seemingly universal things aren’t really all that universal. Overall, I’m learning a lot, laughing a lot and having fun!”