Over the summer, Gracie May, a junior at Lindenwood University and a member of United Hebrew Congregation, went on Birthright trip with about 30 others college students. It was the second time she had been to Israel. The first also was a trip with her peers, on Israel Bound as a rising junior at Parkway Central High School.

May, who is 20, was one of several young people who agreed to chronicle her Israel trip by shooting a short video of the sights, sounds, people and places that most impacted her. This Israel video project was made possible due to a generous grant from the Kranzberg Family Foundation. You can view her video here.

In an interview with the Jewish Light after she returned, May recalled several experiences that have stuck with her long after she came back to St. Louis.

“One thing that really resonated was how different our lives (as American college students) are compared to the Israelis on our trip, who were in their late teens and early twenties,” she said. “They had to leave the military to come on the trip.”

She added that she and some other Americans from the trip are still part of a group chat with some Israeli young women they met while there.

“We talk once or twice a week,” she added, “even several months after returning from Israel.

May also had a chance to do a food tour of Tel Aviv, which she highly recommends.

“That was so interesting to me because we got to go to smaller shops that not many tourists know about,” she said.

Her hope is to someday go back to Israel with her family, specifically her mother who has never been.

“It’s not that I would do much differently because I really had an amazing time on both trips I took, but I would love to see more of the country and visit places I haven’t been.”