Ever since I joined BBYO, I have wanted to be on regional board. Watching the leaders before me shape our region and our order into the best that it could be. I wanted to be a part of that. My journey with chapter leadership is a lot different than the teens around me.

Instead of rushing in the spring semester of my eighth-grade year like most people, I had already started showing my leadership within my chapter. I became chapter N’siah at a very young age - second semester of eighth grade. I had no upperclassman to guide me, and I was growing my chapter from scratch. I had to learn what BBYO was and how to teach it to others in my chapter pretty quickly. 

Since my chapter had just come back from being inactive for years, we did not have elections. Instead, I was selected after filling out an application. After that, I kept being selected, without facing the election process, so I never had to face that. I always wondered what they were like and what went on. Finally, I got to experience my first elections at Spring Convention in 2025. At these elections, I learned about the processes and procedures, which led me to understand so much more about BBG. Sure, most of BBG is sisterhood and tradition, but with missing a big tradition like elections, I always felt a little bit more disconnected. 

I did not get to run in my first election until CLTC 2 2025, where I was able to run mock chapter N’siah. That is where I learned what running in an election looked like, including how to make a platform and a speech. Even though I lost, it made me realize that I really loved elections. When I returned home, I was eager to host my own chapter elections. In January, we had our first chapter elections in almost six years. I got to prepare an official platform and speech. Even though I ran unopposed, I loved going through the experience and the traditions that go with it. Watching other BBGs call for you to hear more about your speech made me happy in a way that I could not express otherwise.

In February, I decided to go higher than the chapter level and started the regional elections process. With one official election under my belt, I built my platform and speech. This was my first election to run against another person, let alone three other girls. I had not experienced a run-off before, and I was nervous. Still, I remembered why I fell in love with elections: the ability to show others how you can benefit your chapter, home region, or the international order. In the end, I did not win a regional board position.

In May, I decided that after five terms as chapter N’siah, I would try a different position, beginning a new journey within BBYO. So, how did elections really affect my BBYO journey? For one thing, they allowed me to show my leadership. It is one thing to be a leader while being on a chapter board, but the true test of your leadership ability is making an impact when you are not in a position of influence. Planning the programs and inviting new members, those were the things that I was good at and liked most. In a humbling way, the election process showed me that it is okay to lose and that you are not alone. While so many teens are winning their elections, many more are not. For me, it allowed me to connect more deeply with friends who lost. Finally, it showed me the impact that I could have in BBYO, whether or not I was in a leadership position. Every teen experiences elections in some form, regardless of whether they choose to run or not. I feel like I showed the younger members in my chapter that they too could run for a board position and grow their leadership potential.