“Because there is one candidate, a motion is allowed. Your Spring Term 2025 Chapter N’siah is Samara Stein.”

Those words were the ones I heard on December 11th, 2024, when I was elected as chapter N’siah in my second semester of grade 9 and my second term on board. My decision to run for a position as important and time-consuming as N’siah had been in my mind since the first time I had run for board.

My first term on board was Fall Term 2024. I was chapter Mazkirah, and when I decided to run I said to my elections chair, “Would it be crazy if I ran for N’siah?” She said yes since it was my first term, but she encouraged me to go for it sometime in the future. Fast forward to November of 2024, when our elections packet came out for the Spring Term 2025 board. I had been thinking about it for a while, and I read over the requirements for N’siah. I was skeptical at first because I was scared that I would be going against our N’siah from Fall Term, who was a senior and had many more qualifications than me, but in the end I realized that I wasn’t going to know if she was running or not until elections day, so I shouldn’t stop myself from doing something I care and am passionate about. The next day, I declared for N’siah. I put so much time and effort into all of my election materials for the next month and a bit until election day. When I got to the JCC on the day of elections, I was so nervous, mainly about whether or not I was opposed and the uncertainty of it all. Once elections started and we had gone through opening ceremonies, our elections chair said, “Will all those caucused for the high and honorable position of chapter N’siah please rise?” I stood up, and so did my entire chapter. The second time she asked, a few people sat down. On the third and final time, I looked over to see if our N’siah from the Fall Term was still standing. She wasn’t. I was the only one standing. I was unopposed. I felt a weight lift off my shoulders, and my speech and election materials were so much easier to get through. I finished my speech after 5 short minutes that really felt like 2, and my elections chair said, “Because there is one candidate, a motion is allowed. Your Spring Term 2025 Chapter N’siah is Samara Stein.”

A month after the elections, the Spring Term 2025 board of Tziporah BBG #2248 was installed, and I was officially Chapter N’siah. In that moment, I had no idea what the future of that term held for me, but I was ready and excited. As the term began, I started to settle into this new and different role. I became more confident, and I learned how to believe in others and myself. I became more extroverted and started to talk to other people outside of my chapter. Sometimes I had trouble believing that I could do it. I was only in grade 9, after all, but at the end of the day, I had tons of people who believed in me, and I believed in myself. All of my work paid off in the end because at the end of the year, when they were announcing regional awards, and they were on officers of the year, I saw the slide flip and the words appear.
‘Chapter N’siah of the Year: Samara Stein’

Me. N’siah of the year. In grade 9. I was shocked. I was shocked and happy and excited and so many other things. I felt accomplished and just at a loss for words. N’siah was a position I had grown to love and value more than any other position I had ever held before, and that validation from my region, and specifically our regional N’siah, who was someone I looked up to and took so much inspiration from, meant so much to me.

Running for chapter N’siah in grade 9 was really, really scary. It could have gone in so many different directions. But it ended up being one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.