It was dark in the room, and about fourteen guys I did not yet know and I were scattered around the room. I had just finished speaking, and all of a sudden, after not even a second of silence, someone stood up and said, “Can we all just take a moment and give Matthew a round of applause? He did not have to open up like that especially at his first event. Thank you.” It was at this moment I knew that I had discovered something special, and it is called BBYO.
BBYO is a teen-led Jewish organization that facilitates and allows future leaders to grow and develop.BBYO stood for B 'nai B 'rith Youth Organization until it became independent from B’nai B’rith in 2002. BBYO is a democracy. Teens get elected to serve on boards, and every rule is set by a motion made in a business meeting BBYO runs based off of parliamentary procedure and the needs and wants of the people. When I found BBYO I had just moved to a new town and had been struggling to make friends. I was sitting alone in my bedroom, and I heard there was an event coming up, so I decided to go for it. I had no clue how much of an impact that one event was going to have on my life in years to come.
I was and had always been a very shy and quiet person. I always kept to
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When I went to that BBYO convention and took that step out of my comfort zone, I realized that who I was then was not a person that I could get very far with in life, and as it turns out, when I stood up and told those fourteen guys about the things that I love, and the type of people with whom I want to share things with in life. I had just found the one place where I could change myself for the better. I started developing leadership skills that I never imagined I could have. I developed a sense of self-advocacy and if I ever had questions or problems I started to ask and tell people about them. I always go out of my way to meet people and make everyone feel included. I became a skilled public speaker, and the leader no one thought I would ever