^{Walking into the camp, I felt I had a disadvantage already. Fresh off the loss of an election, going to a sleepaway camp in a new state, attending as the only one from my region. I drove there, so I arrived early and waited with the few who also drove to camp, along with our BBG coordinator, Abby. I felt uneasy as I tried to memorize the names of the new friends sitting at the picnic table with me, feeling intimidated as we conversed about everything BBYO. People got off the bus in groups they already formed at the airport. I tried to introduce myself to everyone I saw. The discomfort quickly lessened as everyone greeted me warmly, shocked I had come by myself to camp. I quickly felt at ease as we shared stories from our home chapters and regions, and I instantly felt like I belonged. The next two weeks were a blur of quickly making friendships that soon turned into family. Participating in leadership seminars daily, I took note of how I could implement them in my home community. Sharing meals and song sessions every day, I had never felt as connected to a group of strangers as I did with this group. But the most impactful and unique experience was Shabbat. For our first Shabbat, we were woken up super early to do a ‘surprise’ activity that ended up being a color wars event. We received white t-shirts and were painted head to toe in blue and pink, and afterward, we all jumped in the freezing lake to try and get clean and were rewarded with ice cream sundaes for breakfast. The rest of the day, the camp was buzzing with excitement as we prepared for Shabbat, dressing up and rushing to take pictures outside. Even though I was freezing cold and shivering, the service left me filled with warmth and happiness as we went to the dining hall to eat, only to discover it was decorated all fancy by the staff. The services were unimaginably reflective and made me feel closer to my Judaism in a way I can’t describe.}

^{That Sunday, we split up into our mock chapter sessions and ran through election procedures to prepare for the day. I declared for chapter N’siah, not expecting to get it at all, and to my surprise, I ended up in a runoff with my opponent. I was shocked and went back to answer the questions they asked me, not expecting to win for real this time. But again, we went into runoff; this continued for five separate rounds and eventually went the other way, but I was still happy to find out I even had a chance at being able to win. It really built up my confidence after the elections in my home chapter. Even without the position, I helped lead Friday night services for White Shabbat, an even more unique experience than the first - standing up on stage, dancing, and singing along to the prayers with my friends is a memory I’ll never forget. The time flew by, and before I knew it, it was the last night of camp. We walked down to the lake with our bunks at sunset to do a parting activity, sharing our favorite memories of the last two weeks, laughing and crying, and recounting our experiences. The sunset was one of the prettiest I’ve seen, perfectly fitting for the sweetness of the moment. The whole camp gathered around as we watched the sunset fade into the stars, having our final Havdalah. We raced back to the gym and were surprised by a DJ blasting our favorite songs with a goodbye party. We all danced and hugged as we knew we most likely wouldn’t see each other until IC. Our amazing coordinators, Abby and Harrison, surprised us with a lifesize sailboat, and we celebrated our last-ever song session with Marc, our song leader, who led us in our session song Sailboat by Ben Rector. I cried so hard. I was devastated that this amazing experience was coming to an end. As the Madrichim handed out midnight snacks and sent us back to our bunks, we sobbed and hugged – trying to prolong and soak up the last few moments in this wonderful camp. These two weeks were an experience like no other, and I would never trade it for the world.}