Imagine you’ve already finished your undergrad degree, it’s 7 am Monday morning and your heels touch the cold floor to start the normal work routine.

In the bathroom you look in the mirror, and say to yourself “Is this what I really want to do for the rest of my life? Is this it?”

Your head says yes but your core says no, yet you continue on for day, after day, after day, after day… Nothing changes.

Sound familiar? Don’t worry, you‘re not alone.

I graduated eight years ago and since then have had six different jobs, lived in three different countries, and moved to nine different apartments. To say the least, things have consistently changed every year.

What didn’t change for a long time is the question of what I really wanted to do eight hours a day.

On a typical work day after looking at the mirror too many times with resentment for not doing what I wanted; I decided to take a leap and leave my job to come back to Israel for five months to study digital marketing at Elevation Academy through Masa.

Back to Israel

About three years ago I went on a trip to Israel and never stopped thinking about what my life would be like there.

But I had my doubts before coming:

“I’ll lose five months of income for this!” 
“what if I don’t like it?” 
“Is this what I really want?”

After living in Tel Aviv’s startup culture, I can say that my fears were completely diminished and understand why this place is so amazing.

Not too long ago Tel Aviv was just a sand dune. Now in “Startup Nation” there are skyscrapers, multinational companies, and the typical hustle and bustle you would expect in any big city.

Everybody seems to go about their own business but in Tel Aviv if you’re really searching for something you can find it. It just takes a little chutzpah (courage) and curiosity.

I did things that I would’ve never done in USA at such an accelerated pace. One day I was exchanging business cards with a founder of a startup and another in the Google office speaking with mentors about my startup idea.

Being in Tel Aviv taught me that it doesn’t take any special degree or qualifications to make something of your own.

Just like the first settlers of Tel Aviv in 1909: All you need is trust in your intuition and you will make a way or find one to fulfill your dream.

A New Beginning- Classes at Elevation Academy

On the first day of class, my instructor Alex Litwin handed us a paper that said, “You expect a lot from us and we expect the same from you.”

From then on, it was full speed ahead and it was up to me to make it the most productive experience possible.

Through lectures from accomplished marketers, classes on fundamentals, and attending various events; I learned how to do paid advertising, website design, growth hacking, A/B testing, and more.

In a group with my colleagues, we created an idea from scratch and made it into reality. We had the freedom to create what we wanted while having the guidance to execute it.

We ran ads on multiple digital platforms, did market research, created landing pages, blog posts, value posts, and pitched it in a final event to everyone involved in the program.

It was an exhilarating and intense course but worth every minute. It not only gave me an education to become better, but the encouragement to use what I learned to begin a project I love.

Coffee Anyone?

My former definition of an internship was doing insignificant tasks just to get it over with and on your resume.

But my internship after the course with Discovering Coffee gave me the liberty to realize what part of digital marketing really attracts me.

I unexpectedly found myself designing the website and loving every minute of it. I had a voice in the company and made meaningful work while getting professional guidance. The founders allowed me to be an instrumental part of their startup-not just an “intern”.

From Then to Now

I can’t help but to recall what Steve Jobs said in his commencement speech at Stanford:

“You can’t connect the dots looking forward you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.”

Right now I’m in a cafe in Zichron Ya’akov, Israel building a platform to help backpackers with trip planning.

I don’t know what will come of it. Maybe I’ll make a million dollars or it will just be a growing experience (cross your fingers for the million dollars ;).

All I know is while connecting the dots backwards Israel came at the right time to jumpstart a new chapter in my life.