Building a Future

When I was in high school I didn’t care about my grades. I always found flaws in the education system and used that as an excuse to not try. Oh, I’m not going to waste my time on something I don’t even believe in. I always knew in the back of my head that I was digging myself into a hole. I knew that my general apathy was going to continue to eat away slowly at me unless I flipped my world upside down.

So that’s exactly what I did over a year ago when I made aliyah, but I’m only now realizing how important hard work is, and how exceeding in one part of life sets up all the dominoes for you to succeed in the next part of your life as well. Unfortunately, up until now, I haven’t been setting up the dominoes properly. I didn’t exercise properly like I should have over the past year, and honestly, if I had, I probably would have gotten an invitation from yom sayerot. People always told me that it’s a strong mind they look for, because the army can whip anyone who has a healthy body into shape. But you know what, all my friends who got invitations to gibushim are in amazing shape, and everyone who wasn’t in shape didn’t get an invitation. So go figure.

It’s hit me that my poor grades mean that when I finish the army I’m going to have to work extra hard in order to exceed in college. It means that from the get go I’m going to be at a disadvantage during the application process. It means that I’ll have to spend years making up for the lethargy I embodied during high school. It means a lot of things, and if I had put in the work beforehand, I would be much better off right now. It means that I have to succeed in the army so that I can start building a future for myself in Israel. 

All of this coupled with the news that I didn’t get into the infantry. I was almost completely certain I’d get Golani, Givati, or Nahal. That’s what I’ve been dreaming about for over a year, it’s what I listed as my number one choice, and I didn’t get any of them. Instead I got field intelligence. At first I was shocked and thought to myself that I’ll fight tooth and nail to get out, but now that I’ve spoken with people about it, it doesn’t sound that bad. The job is from what I hear important, not at all “jobnik," and uses lots of cutting edge interesting technology.

My decision is that I’m still going to do everything I can to get into infantry, because that’s what I’ve always wanted. On the other hand, I also don’t want to risk losing field intelligence because it sounds like it could be pretty amazing. There are no special forces within the unit which upsets me because I’d like to give that a shot and if I go to FI I’ll never get to experience a gibush. Also, FI doesn’t get as much basic training as the infantry. Other than that, the overall training is still from what I hear very intense and lasts 8.5 months. 

Basically, it’s all going to come down to my attitude. I know that my future has a lot of opportunities in store for me if I play my cards right and put in the hard work.

Red Beret Not in My Future

“I don’t regret the crossroads I’ve passed. Once past the crossing, I’m on my own way. And if there’s more beauty, more flowers along the road I didn’t take, I still don’t regret it, because it wasn’t my road. My path will pass through fertile fields and lovely gardens, and over mountains and rocks and even deserts, but in all its twists it will be on the one path--known and yet mysterious. Our life is a world unto itself within many others--planes that will never touch. And all the roads are traveled by people, and sometimes they meet at the crossroads, and sometimes continue together, and sometimes part again and sometimes not. And it isn’t just a matter of direction, but of time as well. And why be so interested in other planes, when we can hardly master our own?” - Yoni Netanyahu

I just found out recently that I didn’t get the tzanchanim gibush. I’m quite disappointed because with not getting an invitation at yom sayerot that’s two of my dreams shot down by the cold selection process of the IDF. I was given the vague answer that my file doesn’t fit with their criteria. Somethings just weren’t meant to be. I’m going to feel bad for a few days, probably like I did just after yom sayerot, but I have to look ahead and focus on the endless opportunities that are still within my grasp. 

As I was walking back from the dining room, mulling over the bad news in my head, I thought to myself that all this training and exercise has been for nothing. But that’s not really true, I’ve been physically and mentally much stronger lately. That’s an achievement in itself, and I better not let myself down by giving up just because the paratroopers don’t want me.

In fact, what I should do is try even harder. The best revenge is forgetting about those who might have ignored you or kicked you while you were down. I’m going to carve my own path in whatever unit I end up in, and make it the loss of shayetet-13 and tzanchanim, not my loss.

I have a good friend from Germany that was extremely dedicated to his training and a natural leader. He’s one of the most influential people I’ve ever met. To make a long story short, he went to yom sayerot and didn’t get an invitation. Then his file got mishandled and he ended up in a very undesirable unit. He fought to get out, he went to gibushim within the unit (and finished), and pulled all the strings he could, but none of it worked out. He told me once while he was still in basic training that his plan was to become an officer in the unit, so as to start building a future for himself.

That’s what sets him apart from most people. Even though he utterly hated his situation, his response was still to give as much of an effort as possible. At the end of basic training, he was selected among a handful of other people as one of the best cadets. The honor won him a free ticket into the unit that he did a gibush for-- the unit that initially rejected him.

It’s people like him and Yoni Netanyhu that set the example I need to follow. To stop looking backward, and to just focus on the present. My biggest fear now is to not end up in infantry. I’ll be devastated if that happens. But even if that turns out to be the case, I’ll keep fighting and try to make my service time as meaningful as possible. The only thing it’s going to take is a strong and focused mind.

Other than that, I will almost definitely be going to the army in the next two to three weeks. I don't yet know to which brigade.

Becoming a Soldier

Every IDF draftee has a similar first day-- he or she goes to the “Bakum” at Tel HaShomer in Ramat Gan, which is right outside of Tel Aviv. From there, the draftee is processed into the army and then shipped to his base where he will serve. If everything goes smoothly people can finish up at the Bakum in one day, but sometimes there are hiccups and it can take as long as a week (or so I’ve heard.) 

For garin tzabar, it works differently. We all went to the Bakum, and went through most of the things that draftees go through on their first day, but instead of being shipped to our base, we were allowed to go home. We got our teeth photographed, fingerprints taken, x-rayed, given vaccinations, had a few interviews about where we want to go, and got our dog tags and soldier ID cards (hogerim). This means that we are officially considered soldiers of the IDF, even though we live completely civilian lives. It also means that our army service has officially begun, so the countdown until I get discharged has begun. It’s amazing to me to think how dramatically my life is going to change in a few weeks or so when I really get drafted. As far as I know, the only things we didn’t get were our uniforms. By the way, don't sweat it if you are afraid of getting shots. There were lots of people that day who were quite nervous, and afterwards all of them had the same thing to say, "It wasn't that bad."

The ID card we have is great, it allows us to travel for free or at a reduced price on most public transportation. We’re technically not supposed to be allowed to travel for free, but a lot of the bus drivers never say anything to me, or to my friends. Lately I’ve been getting more serious, have been exercising more, reading more, and in general have been more focused. The tzanchanim gibush is coming up in a couple of weeks, and although I haven’t been invited yet, I assume that I will.

It's similar to the situation I was in with yom sayerot. They only let me know the day before that I was invited. Yom sayerot was an interesting experience, I finished the day, but unfortunately didn’t get an invitation to any of the gibushim. I’ll write about it my next post. I’m happy that I did it though, because it was interesting and gives me a better idea of what to expect at the tzanchanim gibush.

After the day was over we were told to give our "regular" hogerim back and they were replaced with different ones that stay we are soldiers in "shalat" which is a Hebrew acronym "service without payment." It took almost two hours and we had to sit outside and do nothing while we waited. People started to get restless so some of the mefakdim started threatening that "you're soldiers now and can go to a court martial for misconduct." Of course it was an empty threat but they managed to get people to quiet down, which didn't bother me because I was trying to sleep.