I joined BBYO in September of my Freshman year of high school. I go to a school that has a pretty big Jewish population, but BBYO has never really been a thing there. Before joining, I had talked to my cousin, who at the time was regional Morah of Liberty, and she had reached out to my council's Morah about getting me involved. Shortly after, I got a text inviting me to my first rush event. 

I was terrified to go. None of my school friends had any interest in joining, so I knew nobody was going into it. I got there, and we started off with an icebreaker. And I was the only one there who went to a different school. At first, it was really hard for me to find my place; many of the BBGs there didn’t have much interest in making new friends, and they wanted to stick with the people they knew. Halfway through the rush event, I thought I would never show up to another BBYO event again, but eventually, a few of the chapter's board members came over to me and started a conversation. I explained to them how nervous I was. They spent time explaining to me what BBYO is and how it has impacted their lives.

The event all of a sudden was over, and I spent the entire time talking to these BBGs, and they really made me feel welcomed. They continued to reach out to me, and we started to become friends. I very quickly got a few people from my school to join BBYO and continued making new friends and finding a forever home in BBYO. 

My biggest piece of advice to anyone joining BBYO from an area where it isn’t as popular is to give it a chance, even though it can be extremely scary. You will always find someone you can talk to and make friends with and truly find your place in this organization.