Almost every person in BBYO says that it “changes their life.” Now, of course, I’m one of those people. The main part about BBYO that changed my life was the ability to give back to a community that had given me so much.
I came into BBYO as an 8th grader who was too afraid to speak in front of everyone. Over the past four years I met my best friends, developed leadership skills, and gained self confidence. I would’ve never been able to accomplish any of this without the encouragement of past BBG leaders.
As Morah, I strived to be this mentor. I knew how much BBYO changed my life and I wanted every single Jewish teen to be able to feel the magic of BBYO.
My chapter was definitely struggling with underclassmen. On the outside it seemed like we were thriving, but I knew that we were a junior heavy chapter and we needed to get younger members as soon as possible.
In the beginning of August, my intense recruiting process began. I reached out to every single person I knew, encouraged all members to bring prospects, and even made my mom post on Facebook to try and help us get members. Now I didn’t just want numbers on paper, I wanted us to have active new members.
I taught BBG traditions and planned a Big/Littles program where each new member was paired with an older one. This helped me so much as an 8th grader and I wanted to make sure everyone felt included.
After 5 months of hard work, my dedication to BBYO paid off. I doubled my chapters membership by getting 21 new members and I even won PWR’S membership mania contest for my chapter!
Now how did I do it? Well, the most important thing is your "Why?". Think about when you joined BBYO and what brought you in. I know the Morim positions can often be overlooked, but you are the reason our organization stays thriving.
I highly encourage every single person to put their all into setting their chapter up for a strong future. It is such a rewarding feeling knowing that because of YOU, others will get to experience the magic of BBYO!
Lindsey Shrager is a BBG from Pacific Western Region #44 who loves to travel and listen to Taylor Swift!
All views expressed on content written for The Shofar represent the opinions and thoughts of the individual authors. The author biography represents the author at the time in which they were in BBYO.