You Can't Always Get What You Want

Not everything goes as planned, it rarely does. Ever since arriving in Israel, I have been training hard to go into a combat unit as most healthy males do, and specifically training for Yom Sayerot, a day of tryouts to try and get into Israel's most elite units. To make a long story short, I got COVID-19, missed Yom Sayerot, and will not have an opportunity to tryout again. Like I said, not everything goes as planned.

Yom Sayerot is a day usually happening twice a year (October and January) where future IDF soldiers have the opportunity to get an invitation to another tryout. During Yom Sayerot, scouts from some of the IDF's most elite units are watching to invite individuals to their specific tryouts, where you can then get into some of the top units such as Sayeret Matkal or Shayetet 13. Those who get an invitation to these next rounds of tryouts, and don't make it into the top of the top, can then fall into other elite units such as Shaldag, 669, Duvedevan, Maglan, Egoz, and so on. Essentially, this day of tryouts is just a tryout to be invited to another tryout, and from this day, many doors in the IDF can open up.

However, things don't always go that way. Last Thursday, right when I arrived at my Kibbutz from base, I was told that someone in my tzevet (group) from base tested positive for COVID-19. Not surprisingly, he was the one unvaccinated individual in my group. Apparently the vaccine works haha. So over the next few days, half of our tzevet tested positive for the virus, including myself. While this meant a week off from the army, getting to watch movies and sit around, it also meant that I couldn't attend Yom Sayerot since the next date is in October.

I found a lot of this ironic. After two years of deciding who I am going to be in contact with, when I will choose to be in contact with others, and how far I will choose to be from other people, the moment that all of these freedoms were thrown out the window is the moment I became infected with COVID-19. I could not choose who was in my tzevet or how far away we can be from each other. I was thrown into a room where we live on top of each other, during the height of the Omicron wave, and no wonder I became infected. So after two years of steering clear, I finally contracted coronavirus when I had no other choice.

I wasn't too upset that I became sick, because at the end of the day I received Gimelim in my second week of the army (the term used for sick days given by the army). Receiving gimelim is not the easiest thing to do, and I got it in my second week. Pretty impressive right?

However I would be lying if I said I wasn't upset about missing Yom Sayerot. Not having the opportunity to compete and show what I got was very frustrating, especially after months of training to be the best I can. I know that all of this hard work is not put to waste, but it certainly felt as such, and very frustrating that I worked towards something that I couldn't even compete in, and won't have another opportunity to do so.

Despite all of this, at the end of the day things happen for a reason. When I came to Israel in August, I had this feeling that I wanted to go and was going to ultimately end up in Nahal (one of the infantry units). I told myself that I'd be going to Nahal unless I got into some special unit, being handed an opportunity I just wouldn't be able to turn down. However, now that this other option is simply no longer an option, it might be for the best, and might mean that I was meant to go to Nahal all along. When I receive my Manilla in a short two months (IDF job ranking questionnaire), I am planning as of now to rank Nahal as my number one choice. Ultimately, nobody can promise me anything, and there is a chance I don't get Nahal but am placed somewhere else. If that happens, then it is meant to be, and I will be where I belong.

This last week has undoubtedly been frustrating, and I feel like I missed an opportunity completely out of my control. However, while this week gave me a chance to relax and watch some movies, I also know that wherever I end up is where I end up. Ultimately I came here not for one specific unit, but to serve in the IDF in general. And, wherever that ends up being, is where I am meant to be.

*Rainbow on my last full day of Quarantine