If I can be honest with you, I have been involved in BBYO forever. I started about five and a half years ago and of course, it had its ups and downs along the way. I changed as a person, I found my identity, and found really good friends that I will be thankful for all my life! These are all good things, but I had some low points, the main one being elections.
I would be in the records of BBYO Bulgaria’s history for running for board and not being elected, and back in the day, I looked at not being elected as something bad, as a failure, but honestly, it was not like that at all. I’m an Aries, so it sucks to not be the star, to not be the one being chosen to do great things, and of course, at first, losing the election was really nasty, and I felt awful, but that’s life! We get used to it, and eventually, we accept it.
Of course, I know I am good. I know my abilities and whatever the reasons were for me not being elected, I never lost hope, because there is a way to be productive and enact change, even without being on the board. That’s the reason why I stayed an active member all this time, and I don’t regret it. I know I have been a good role model for some, which makes me happy and makes me want to be there more for people. I also have been writing articles, attending community services, participating here and there and I am still doing it because I am hopeful and happy doing it!
Perhaps you would say, “Fine, but is that all?” Well, it certainly isn’t, because a few months ago, a new opportunity came out - Eastern European Council. I didn’t know back then what it meant and who was part of it, but to be honest, I was thrilled, because I saw a new glimpse of hope and a new field for me where I would be able to express myself and be involved by doing more. Actually this time, it was even better, because it was an International opportunity and I was dying to work with teens from around the world. So I talked to some of my BBYO and non-BBYO friends, and they were all very supportive and told me that this opportunity was some kind of sign for me to finally shine, so I applied. And as you can expect, this story has a happy ending! I am currently a happy representative of Bulgaria on the EEC. Many projects are about to happen, so please, be part of my journey, OUR journey! You can follow us on @bbyoeasterneurope on Instagram.
To wrap things up, dreams do come true! Sometimes it is hard, because you don’t know what to expect, but hard work, undying hope, and resiliency, led me to achieve my dream and be where I am today. As you can tell, now, I am truly happy!
Thank you for reading! See you next time!
Angel Andreev is an Aleph from BBYO: Bulgaria and is part of the Shofar for his second year.
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.