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| Atidim gave Anna the advantage she deserved. |
"I vividly remember my excitement when I made aliyah with my family," says Anna Novikova, 18, who immigrated with her family from Baku, capital of Azerbaijan.
The family was fortunate to join their extended family already living in Israel. After living with relatives for a short time in Kfar Saba they moved to Or Akiva where her parents and grandparents were able to buy apartments. Anna's other grandparents also made aliyah shortly thereafter.
Anna's father, once a high-ranking official in the Russian army lost his job when his unit was disbanded with the fall of the Soviet Union. He had a hard time finding suitable employment in Russia. This provided the impetus to join their extended family in Israel. In Israel, Anna's parents both found employment as engineers in the same electronics company.
Although Anna acclimated well to Israel, the education provided in Or Akiva, a former development town not far from Israel's northern coast, were significantly less than in the center of the country.
Then she was chosen to participate in the Atidim program, an initiative of the Israel Defense Forces in which the Jewish Agency is a strategic partner. It is designed to help close the socioeconomic gaps crippling Israel's periphery by creating equal educational opportunity, while providing the armed forces with a cadre of trained, motivated officers. Hundreds of talented students from 35 development towns are participating in the enrichment program to enable them to study science and engineering at university. Upon completion of their studies, they enter the army as officers. Today, almost 40% of the IDF Academic Reserves is comprised of Atidim students.
Anna took part in enrichment classes two afternoons a week. What she liked the most were the extracurricular trips to museums and lectures exposing her to many topics in science and technology that she would otherwise have had no exposure. She enjoyed traveling to other cities in Israel.
Anna has begun her compulsory army service and after basic training will work in a psychological research unit. She feels privileged to have the opportunity to participate in Atidim. "It gave me the ability to compete with the students from larger cities who have access to more extracurricular classes. I am much better prepared for university now."
Written by: Tova Naiman
Photos by: Shlomy Ben Ami
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