“To be a free nation in our land, the land of Zion and Jerusalem.”

These words, the last two lines of the Israeli national anthem, “Hatikvah,” seem to have been echoing through the country lately. They can be seen on the lips of passersby who stop and stand next to their cars on Yom HaShoah and Yom HaZikaron, they can be heard chanted, screamed and cried on Yom HaAtzma-ut and they can be seen posted on walls, flashing across television screens or on a card in someone’s wallet.

I have come to see that these words are not merely a reflection of our religious desire to herald the coming of the Messiah, rebuild the temple, and so on and so forth; these words reflect the current and real physical presence of the Jewish people in the piece of land that is now called Israel—a possibility that we made reality with our own hands.

I have been fortunate enough to live in this land for nine months. But what differentiates spending nine months in Israel from nine months studying abroad in another foreign and exotic place? I have found that before coming to live here, my connection to this place was purely religious, Zionistic, and, in many ways, juvenile. I had no idea what living here would really entail.

I have now lived in three very different places: Jerusalem—the city of religious fervor, ancient words and much turmoil, Arad—a beautiful town in the desert that I completely fell in love with, and Holon—a mediocre suburb of Tel Aviv. I have discovered numerous cultures and lifestyles, gotten to know people of all backgrounds and learned an ancient language that was reborn. Israel is no longer just a place I pray toward, give tzedakah to and keep in mind when making political decisions. It is now something concrete that I can call home. It is a place that I know I will miss and a place in which I still have much to discover.

Living in Israel has given me a completely different perspective on life. Not only do I feel more independent, adventurous and responsible, I also feel less materialistic, more in touch with nature and much more easygoing. You can find almost anything you want in this tiny place, and I was lucky enough to find everything I was looking for and more.

The best advice I could give someone who is considering spending a year in Israel before college like I have is to create your own life here. Being on a program with group activities, people with similar interests and counselors to help you out is very comforting when you come to a new place on your own. However, you must take those tools and use them to create your own experience. Many people I know never really left the bubble of the program and thus did not really get to experience the country and its citizens for what they are.

In one of my first articles for JVibe, I wrote about a woman I met on a bus in Jerusalem who had a very serious and real impact on me. She had been in two terrorist attacks and witnessed countless friends die. After all of these horrible incidents, she decided to make aliyah because, according to her, she just “couldn’t live anywhere else.” About two weeks ago, I found myself sitting across from this same woman at a campfire. We immediately recognized each other, ended up spending the weekend together and now plan on keeping in touch.

This incident was a true culmination of my experience this year. If nothing else, this country is a place of unity, friends, family and love. There is a feeling here like nothing else, and this feeling is now so real for me; I don’t know how I will be able to leave.

What does it mean to be a free nation? Are we really free here? Does it not seem that the constant state of violence, threat of terror and vast differences between groups here would tear this place to pieces? Theoretically, it does. However, Israel has something special—whether you see it as a blessing from God, a secular feeling of unification or purely another ironic happening of this crazy world, we have something.

So many people back in Indiana thought I was crazy for coming here. When I get home, I have no idea how I will explain my year. But I know I will tell them that I could not have made a better choice.

Margy Stoner is an 18-year-old from Indianapolis, Ind. She enjoys writing, hiking, traveling, Israel, reptiles, spicy food and the guitar-campfire combination. She plans on attending Indiana University in 2008.