As the school year comes to an end, many upperclassmen plan to take a gap year between high school and college. Noa Bregman ‘19 gives insight into her gap year at Mechina Tavor. 

Noa Bregman took her gap year in between her freshman and sophomore year of college. Covid-19 was very bad, so Bregman decided to spend a year in Israel instead of another year of classes on Zoom. Mechina Tavor is a fully Israeli mechina with a pre-army focus. A Mechina is a preparatory program designed to help students discover their full potential and identify the next steps in achieving their personal and professional goals. Days at Mechina Tavor are filled with hiking, community service, navigation practice, and more skills needed to succeed in the army. Bregman found that because the program was fully Israeli, “it was really hard in the first half to make friends and express myself in Hebrew, and I couldn’t really be myself.” She described the mechina as “very intense and very focused on high military positions.” Bregman advises that in deciding where to spend a gap year, one should select a mainly Israeli program that is known to be welcoming and accepting of Americans. Bregman advises this because though she does not regret her decision, she acknowledges that a more accepting program would have made her year more enjoyable.