For seven years, I was convinced I had already found my home. I thought there was only one place where I truly belonged, and I never imagined I would have to leave it to find something new. But sometimes, the place you’re most afraid to leave leads you exactly where you’re supposed to be.

When I was 8, I started going to summer camp at Camp Ramah Darom. I went for 7 summers, with 11 months of the year waiting for camp, waiting to see my friends, waiting to be back ‘home.’

But as people get older and personalities change, opinions are formed and people are hurt. Unfortunately, I was one of those people. Those who I used to call family talked about me behind my back, saying how weird I was and how I was ‘too much.’ And suddenly, the place that had always felt like home didn’t anymore, and for the first time, I felt alone in a place I loved.

So, when my big, Maya, told me that BBYO Summer would be a life-changing experience, I didn’t want to believe her. I didn’t want to leave Ramah. It had been my home for so long, and I couldn’t imagine finding that feeling anywhere else.

But still, I took the chance and signed up for 3LTC ’25.

For the first time in years, I got to start over. I wasn’t surrounded by people who already had expectations of who I was. Instead, I met Jewish teens from around the world, all bringing different stories, backgrounds, and perspectives. We all arrived as strangers, and somehow, by the end of the summer, we felt like family.

BBYO Summer gave me the chance to rediscover myself and build friendships based on who I was becoming, not who I had always been.

A few months later, I had to make an impossible decision: Ramah or full Perlman.

If I went back to Ramah, it would have been my Gesher summer. For years, all I wanted to be was a Gesher camper, and walking away felt like I was leaving behind the story I had written for myself. I felt like I was failing a little 8-year-old me.

But deep down, I already knew where I belonged.

So, I chose Perlman.

Meeting new people was hard, and the airport was a lot. But stepping into this new chapter of my life, I knew I had made the right decision. Even though ILTC was hard, it taught me confidence, to trust myself, and to step out of my comfort zone. To believe that I have something worth bringing to the people around me. That confidence has changed the way I show up in BBYO, school, and every other part of my life. So, to my ILTC friends, thank you for helping me find myself and for being there for me when I needed it most.

Intersession came and went, and the time to meet new people came, and those same nerves came back. But seeing my friends come off the bus was amazing. I knew that I would find my family.

International Kallah, how do I even begin to say how much I needed the people I met? Kallah felt like a break; the friendships came easy. Being in Bunk 10 was the best thing that happened to me. I found my real friends and those who I never wanted to leave. I truly can’t put into words how much those I met changed me. ILTC was amazing, but Kallah gave me something even bigger: it gave me family. It gave me a community that believed in me before I fully believed in myself, and it reminded me that home isn’t always the place you’ve known the longest; it’s the place that gives you people who lift you to become who you’re always meant to be. From California, Michigan, New Jersey, and Florida, I know I have a home with you. So, thank you for everything.

I thought leaving Ramah meant failing myself, but Perlman gave me the chance to begin again, with people from across the world who loved me for me.

So, if you find yourself in a similar situation, take the chance and choose Perlman.

THIS IS NOTHING AGAINST RAMAH DAROM. I AM JUST SHARING MY EXPERIENCE.