Two weeks. That’s all that stands between me and my last international event as a BBYO teen. It’s a sentence I’ve said out loud a few times now, and every time it still feels unreal. International BBYO has been a constant throughout my high school experience, a place where, between summer programs and IC, the days are long, the nights are longer, and the moments somehow manage to stick with you always.

Being a senior at IC will feel different. There will be a heightened awareness in everything, every hug will last a little longer, every song will feel a little louder, and every room will carry memories of who I was the first time I saw the people in it. I remember my first IC feeling overwhelmed and excited. Now, I walk into those same spaces with confidence and a deep sense of gratitude for how much BBYO has shaped me.

There’s something incredibly bittersweet about knowing this is the last time I’ll experience BBYO like this. The last time I’ll sit on the floor during late-night programming, the last time I’ll scream lyrics at the top of my lungs, the last time IC will feel like a real goodbye. And yet, it doesn’t feel like an ending; it feels like a celebration of everything that led me here.

BBYO taught me how to lead and how to show up for others, but more importantly, it taught me how to be me and how to believe in myself even when things didn’t go as planned. The people I met, the moments I shared, and the growth I experienced will stay with me way beyond this final convention.

So, as IC approaches, I’m holding all of it closely,  the excitement, the nostalgia, the tears I know are coming, and the immense gratitude I feel towards this. This IC isn’t just my last; it’s a reminder of how lucky I am to have had something so meaningful that saying goodbye is this hard.

Two weeks left. And I plan to soak up every second.