Rachel+B

My name is Rachel B., and I am turning sixteen in less than a month. I am in the tenth grade and go to The Frisch School. I have two parents, a mother and a father, an older sister, and a younger brother. I love to read and hang out with friends. I love Israel—it is my favorite place to visit. I would also like to visit Rome. Rome seems so interesting to me because such a great empire emerged from that one city. Rome is also the center of the Catholic Church. I am really fascinated by religions and how they evolve. Rome has so much culture, too. The art there is spectacular, and l love viewing works of art.  Last year, everyone my age started high school. I was really nervous, because I chose to go to Frisch when a lot of my friends had decided to go to SAR or Ramaz, both high schools near me. I thought I would have a really hard time fitting into a school where everyone already knew each other. Most of the other kids at Frisch live in New Jersey and have been friends since they were little. By the second week of school, I had made so many friends and felt that I had not made a wrong decision about my choice of high school.  Another major event that happened to me last year was that my sister had attended school in Israel. Over Sukkot, we went to go visit her in Israel. The other two times I had visited Israel, I had not appreciated it, but when we went last Sukkot, I loved it. We went for the holiday and did not travel around the country as we had the other times we visited, but the trip was a better one, because I think I finally felt a connection to the land. My sister was living in the country, and being there at a time when traditionally Jews travelled to the Beit HaMikdash was very meaningful to me. I felt a close connection to G-d, the Torah, and my religion.  This past summer, I attended FIT in Manhattan and took several classes. I took a cosmetology class and a party planning class. I loved the cosmetology class, because I not only learned about the history of the cosmetic, but actually made cosmetics in a lab! I learned how major cosmetic companies make their products and what their prices should be. In my second class, I learned how to design parties. The students and I went on field trips to fake flower stores and made centerpieces, menus, and invitations.  For the second month of camp, I went to Moshava, which is a B’nei Akiva summer camp. I was really anxious to go at first, because Moshava takes its campers on hikes, and I don’t like hiking. After the first hike I was really upset because it was not fun at all and everyone got bitten by mosquitoes. By the second hike, I was already loving camp and had nothing against hiking. Then I could really enjoy the hikes. We hiked to beautiful places and saw extraordinary landscapes. Seeing the world from a different view made me appreciate all that G-d has given to us.  I think that my past experiences have made me the person I am today, and I am happy with myself. Each person thinks and acts differently and that is what makes him an individual. Dr. Seuss says, “Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened.” I find that statement is very true. If a person constantly worries about his/her past, he will never make it to the future. One should also enjoy life—don’t worry about the fact that what’s good has passed, make the future even better. 