Many students from Wayland High School traveled to different parts of the world over the summer, exploring different countries and cultures. Junior Erica Sheffres traveled to Israel for a month with her overnight summer camp. Due to the violence and dangers occurring in the country, the trip was cut short.

While there, her group explored various parts of the country. Some of the locations they visited included Jerusalem, the Negev Desert, El’ad and Tel Aviv. In these places they did activities such as visiting old historical sites, camping, hiking, biking and scuba diving.

Although there was much danger and violence in Israel while they were there, it didn’t have a large impact on the trip. The trip was supposed to be five weeks long, but they had to leave a week early due to the instability in the country.

“It didn’t affect us directly because our trip did a good job of keeping us out of areas that were at risk, but definitely toward the end of the trip we had to change our agenda a little bit, so that we weren’t in areas that were within range of rockets,” Sheffres said.

According to Sheffres, she felt very safe while she was there.

“It’s upsetting to see that people have to live like that everyday, and they have to make it part of their routine,” Sheffres said. “For me it wasn’t emotionally draining or anything because I knew that I was safe, but I couldn’t imagine having to live like that, everyday in conflict.”

Because of the trip, Sheffres learned to be more grateful and aware of what’s going on in the world.

“I learned to be grateful for what you have and to pay attention to things that are going around beyond where you belong and your personal sphere,” Sheffres said. “In Wayland, it’s easy to forget the big conflicts going on around you because you’re so safe and secure here, but it’s important to really know what’s going on in the world.”

Overall, Sheffres had a positive experience on her trip to Israel.

“I made some amazing friends, and we traveled with a group the entire summer, which was really cool. I just won’t forget any of the people I met or my counselors. Some of the experiences like hiking and the desert were just amazing experiences,” Sheffres said.

“It just gave me a different perspective of the world because sometimes you think, living here, you don’t always have in mind everything that’s going on, but I think now I’ll be more aware,” Sheffres explained.