Q: What is your full name, where you are from, University in your home country and University/program here?
Hi, my name is Daphné Tapia, I am 22 years old and I come from Paris, France.
The past three years, I have followed a very intense and selective course studying geography and literature in a French University. Since geography became my passion, I decided to travel to Israel to study in this field.
I am doing a master program at Tel Aviv University in Environmental Studies. We study mainly water issues and sustainability in the Middle East. I have chosen this master mainly because water is an important part of the geographic field and also because Israel is the world leader regarding these issues. For examppe, they invented the drip irrigation system and 70% of Israel water resources come from desalination of ocean water.
Q: Why Israel?
I came to Israel all my life as a tourist. However, I started to develop a frustration regarding the country. Every Holiday, I would arrive in Israel full of enthusiasm and 2 weeks later on my way back home I would feel pretty upset. Who can say “I know Israel” or “I love this country” if one does not speak Hebrew? If one does not meet locals and get to know about their life and routine? I would indeed spend most of my time with my French friends. The few Israelis I would meet were the waitress when I asked for a limonana.
Since I arrived and have spent 7 month in Israel already, my Hebrew improved like crazy. I can have deep conversation with Israelis and even joke with them. It is now much easier to make friends: every time I take the bus, I can speak to the person that seats next to me, understand and reply back when someone tells me about their life.
Q: What was your favorite moment this far in your journey?
In order to make Israeli friend, I decided to join the Tel Aviv University Wind band. I have been playing the flute for 12 years. I had to audition in front of the director. I was pretty anxious, but I realized that if I didn’t try, there was no chance I could get in.
We are 70 players in TAU Wind band. Half of us are professional players. I am very glad I have the opportunity to play with such talented people!
I think my favorite moment was when we did our second concert. The main theme was Disney songs. 2000 people attended to come listen to our band. I told myself I would never have such an opportunity again and felt very proud to be in such a beautiful auditorium playing music that helped people from all backgrounds and all age come together.
Q: What is your program like, what made it different from studying in your home country?
What makes it so special is to be part of an international class: we are 20 people coming from all over the world. It is very interesting to learn from them, from their experience in their home countries. I am here studying in English and taking Hebrew classes twice a week. It makes my days very dense, intense, and stimulating. I would not have such nice challenges in France.
I have the chance to go every two weeks on a field trip with my classmates to see and experience what we study in class. For example, we went to the Ashkelon Desalination Plant to study amazing water technique, and to learn about the treaties between Israel and Gaza regarding water management, as Ashkelon is only 7 kilometers away from the Gaza strip.
Since we are a small program in a very prestigious university, we are often invited to take part in seminars and conferences. When such moments happen, we get to spend 2 hours meeting experts and politicians from the “eco-friendly” world. We met the Estonian deputy in charge of the Environment, Young leaders in green transportation from Denmark, and ambassadors from the States. I would not have such great professional opportunities in my home country.
Q: How do you think studying in Israel has helped you on your journey to a meaningful career and future?
Studying in Israel has helped me to increase my language skills: my English and Hebrew are now much better. I also did lots of networking, especially with Masa for with the Leadership Academy University.
I am very glad I got to see the country through an environmental frame. I am more aware about the conflicts, water issues and I am very certain now that I want to keep studying in the environmental/ geographical field. Next year, I will start a master degree in Cartography, as well. I realized that maps are very important in the Middle East: if you ask an Israeli-Arab or an Israeli-Jew to draw a map of Jerusalem, they would for sure put different borders, different names, and different shapes.
Studying in Israel helped me be aware of these situations and to strengthen my knowledge and desire for my future and career.
Q: You opted in to learn about adaptive leadership as a part of Masa University Leadership track. Can you tell us about what you’ve learned in the track and what your take away is from the track?
I am very glad I took part in this track. We were a small group and I really liked the moment when each of us told the story of how we once failed to be a good leader in a particular situation. We then decided that Anastasia’s story (from Russia) was the most interesting one and started it from the beginning to understand how and when she could have change the situation and increase her leadership. It was a good way to learn about Russia’s situation for it was related to Anastasia’s story and to brainstorm with people from many different backgrounds.
On our second meeting we had a tour in South Tel Aviv to learn about refugees living conditions and about local Israelis that disagree with their new neighbor from Erythrea or South Soudan. It was nice to hear about these challenges for one often has another picture of Tel Aviv: the beach, the clubs, and the hummus. Reality is much more complex and interesting. We had the chance to listen to two testimonies from each camp: a refugee and an association against the refugees in South Tel Aviv. We then had the chance to discuss with the group in order to analyze the situation and express our feelings.
Q: Any advice for incoming students or newbie?
I have read a nice sentence recently: “If you don’t have fun, it is half your fault”. Being in Israel is not always easy. We miss our family, we can be upset for some reason. However, it is always our responsibility to turn situation that can be sometime boring into enjoyable situation.
Since I am in Tel Aviv, I have been trying hundreds of new activities: surfing, climbing, language exchange, drawing… I would never have done such things in France. The best advice I could give is: go out of your comfort zone. Such chances are not always given again in a lifetime and Israel is a nice place to do so. People are very open-minded and helpful here.
I have tried to make the most of my time here because I realized that no one is going to make it for me. Israel has a lot to offer us if we make the efforts to go “meet” the country and its citizens.
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