Being Dor Chadash’s N’siah in the fall term was an incredible experience to give back to my home chapter, and I’d like to share some of the events that led up to it!
I went to my first Dor Chadash program in March 2023, as a prospect with my best friend. On the first day, I met all these beautiful and amazing BBGs and immediately, after only knowing me for less than 20 minutes, they welcomed me into their chapter and treated me like a close friend. It was an immediate connection! This kindness was what inspired me to join BBYO the same night, and I don’t regret it one bit.
When I joined, our chapter consisted of mostly freshmen and seniors, and we had around 15 active members. But, when the Fall Term 2023 chapter elections came around, we had no board, mostly because most of our members were only in their first year of bbyo and just starting high school, and our seniors were all graduating. Since we had no board, we were told we’d have to either merge with our brother chapter, or create a committee to run the chapter. Most of us agreed to create a committee, but nothing ended up happening when our seniors graduated, and the summer began.
The end of August 2023 came, and I realized that if I didn’t do anything, the chapter that I had fallen in love with in such a short amount of time would begin to fold. So, I messaged my chapter group chat, and 4 amazing BBGS responded. We made a group chat and scheduled a meeting with our chapter and regional advisor in early September. The 5 of us went to the meeting, and 4 of us decided to become our chapter’s board. We didn’t know what positions we wanted at first, just that we wanted our chapter to have a strong board. My friends suggested I become chapter N’siah, because of the dedication and love I already showed for our chapter, and on September 7th, 2023, one day before my birthday, I got the best gift I could ever ask for, and that was becoming my chapter’s N’siah!
At first, it was scary. I’d never been on a chapter board before, and I was N’siah in my first board position! I didn’t know what to expect, but with the help of my amazing Fall Term 2023 board, we saved our chapter, and went from 8 active members to now more than 20! We broke our membership goal, and I’m proud to say that our chapter is active and full of strong, young leaders who I am confident will keep Dor Chadash thriving, even after I, and our other chapter leaders, graduate.
Becoming my chapter’s N’siah was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made and I don't regret a single thing. I built so many new connections, strengthened old ones, met so many people, and learned so much more about myself. If I hadn't become Dor Chadash’s N’siah, my chapter, my whole life would be so different, and I’m so glad it happened!
Miley Haik is a BBG from Ontario, who likes music, playing bass, and Garfield.
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.