A common statement people make is their "why" for doing things, or just how they live their lives. But what does that even mean? That was something I was quite unsure of for a very long time. I had always done sports or activities because I enjoyed them; that was simply why I did them. Except I never truly had an inspiration for why I kept doing these things. So once that enjoyment slipped away, it made it that much harder to keep going on because I had nothing else pushing me to do so.

My BBYO why is much different from everything else. It starts on the weekend before my first-ever chapter elections and my birthday. I was full of excitement and only a little bit nervous. Then I took the ten-minute walk to my favorite local ice cream shop. Of course, I got the brookie dough ice cream I had been thinking about for weeks. I then waited by the window, where the worker would soon call my name to tell me my ice cream was ready. The whole day leading up to this felt like a routine I had done so many times before. Wake up, get dressed in my BBYO shuk, do some homework, hang out with friends, and then get a text from my brother inviting me to come get ice cream with him and the other teens in my neighborhood. It felt completely ordinary. Looking back, I had no idea that a routine trip for ice cream was about to become one of the most meaningful moments of my BBYO journey.

Someone then came up to me, but not just anyone. Yes, I was used to seeing people I know there, and I was honestly expecting to see someone from my school. But the person who came up to me was an older woman using a walker whom I had never seen before, and still, she seemed so excited to talk to me. Then she said six simple words that changed everything, and became my why, the why I was searching for for so long.

I was a B'nai B'rith Girl.

At first, I was honestly just confused and shocked that she was even Jewish, and especially that she was a member of BBYO. Although the area I live in has a higher percentage of Jews than many other areas, it still does not feel like it at all. In my grade at school, there are only six Jews, to my knowledge. So the fact that there was an older BBYO alumna in my town was just fantastic, and I found it so exciting. 

Right away, I started talking with her, and it was impossible not to notice how much BBYO still meant to her. I then learned that her chapter was Star of David BBYO. Although this name might seem basic or plain, it actually means much more to me. Back then, the organization was small, and therefore, the chapter names could be simple because there weren't too many of them. But now, there are so many chapters across the whole world, and their names have to be unique so that there aren't thousands of the same chapter, just in different places. Yet despite all those changes, the connection she felt to BBYO had remained exactly the same as mine does now.

Once we finished our conversation, I walked out of the ice cream shop to start the walk home and heard one of the woman's friends proudly call out to her.

I was an Aleph.

Just hearing those words showed so much. It made me realize that BBYO isn't just something people do for a few years; it's something they carry with them for the rest of their lives. It revealed the lifelong legacy and meaning BBYO holds in people's lives, even long after they've aged out. And finally, it showed why it's so crucial to continue the legacy of the BBGs and the AZAs, because everyone deserves the opportunity to experience and cherish this organization as much as the elders at the ice cream shop do, and the rest of the organization does, too.

In conclusion, I encourage you to find your why in BBYO. What has made you keep showing up? Yes, the meetings and events are always so much fun, but what else? Maybe it's the upperclassmen who first encouraged you to join, and then encouraged you to keep getting involved. Maybe it's the friendships you've built or the memories you've made. But whatever it is, hold onto it tight, and don't forget about it, because BBYO is so important and something that should never be forgotten.

Because one day, years from now, I hope all of us can look back and proudly say the same thing those two alumni said in that ice cream shop:

I was a B'nai B'rith Girl.

I was an Aleph.

And maybe that is the true power of BBYO. Long after the conventions end, long after the chapter meetings are over, and long after we age out, the memories, friendships, and meaning remain.

That unexpected conversation in an ice cream shop showed me what BBYO could, and will mean to me for the rest of my life.