AIPAC Journals - Invitation and Preparation

   I recognize that I have not posted regularly on this blog for well over a year, but I recently attended the AIPAC Policy Conference in Washington, DC and wanted to share with you all my experiences at the conference through a series of #AIPACJournals. My hope is that you will find these #AIPACJournals interesting and informative as you view this important conference through the eyes of a pro-Israel college student. Enjoy!

Invitation and Preparation 

   Several weeks ago I received a text from my dear friend and fellow Christians United for Israel on Campus (CUFI on Campus) student activist, A., inviting me to attend AIPAC with her. Last year as I viewed the Facebook posts my friend, M., and others were posting about the AIPAC Policy Conference, I wished I was at the conference and began to hope that next year I would be able to attend. Not surprisingly, I was very excited to receive A.'s invitation and immediately planned to check my school schedule to see if I could attend the conference.

   After reviewing my school schedule, I was delighted to discover that the AIPAC Policy Conference coincided perfectly with my spring break. Thus, began the process of registering for the conference and anxiously waiting for the confirmation email. When the email finally came through, I began to recognize that my dream of attending the AIPAC Policy Conference was about to become reality.

   Thankfully, I attend a school that has always been supportive of my activism and had a professor this semester who was very understanding and reasonable. I alerted my professor to the fact that I would be finishing up my course a little bit early in order to attend AIPAC and then worked hard last week to finish on time. Late Friday night dragged into early Saturday morning as I worked for almost 4 hours to complete my final (essays) for my course, but I knew that all this hard work would be well worth the effort.

   I went to bed in the wee hours of Saturday morning and rose later that morning to pack for my trip and travel to Washington, DC to begin my adventure!

Shalom,
Nili Smit