Students from the Israel Arab Communities who recently returned home after an early end to the program in the U.S. shared some beautiful words of gratitude towards their YES experience.

We started with a simple hello but ended with a short, complicated goodbye because it is not a trip or a vacation, it is a second life!

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My YES year was an amazing experience that I will never forget. Even though it got cut short and I missed fun activities, it was worth every single day that I got to experience in the U.S. I improved my English which was one of the major purposes of this trip and made long life friendships and I’m so glad I participated in the YES program!

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Whenever I look back at the best year of my life and miss the good days, I tell myself to not cry because it’s over, but smile because it happened and made me the person I am today.

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Joining the YES family was the best decision I have made in my whole life! It was an amazing year and it made me grow up as a person, become more independent and responsible, and helped me gain friends from all over the world!

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This exchange year wasn’t a year in my life, it was a life in a year 

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Dealing with a pandemic is easier when you have learned to be flexible, patient, and make the best out of everything wherever you are! - an exchange student who will never regret or forget being one.

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My exchange year was really life changing!

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This year was challenging but worth it!

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Summarizing 7 months of a new adventure in a few words seems impossible to me. I can't describe how life changing this experience is. During the period I spent in the U.S., plenty of things have changed, a lot of stereotypes are now broken, and a lot of values grew in me. Today, I look at the person I was when I left home and compare it to the person I have turned into and I'm so proud, because none of the challenges I overcame were easy. As Robert Frost once said, 

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference."