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During my winter break, my family and I took a cruise together. On the first night of the cruise, I went to the teen club to meet new friends. I decided to wear BBYO merch. When I walked into the room, I noticed multiple people looking at my BBYO hoodie. While I was talking to people I had never met before, a few people approached me and asked if I was wearing a BBYO hoodie. My hoodie led to many conversations about other regions, board positions, and meet-ups at IC. Being able to represent BBYO while on vacation helped me meet new friends and show my Jewish identity. Not only was I able to talk to new friends about their BBYO experiences, but others were interested in learning more about and joining our organization! It’s so amazing that BBYO has helped me connect with people throughout the world, even on family vacations. I am always so proud of the organization I am in and I love sharing my experiences with new people. It’s so cool that something as simple as wearing a BBYO hoodie can lead to unexpected new friendships!

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.

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