Wow, Senior Year. It feels like just yesterday I was an excited little 13-year-old, ready to join BBYO for the first time and explore all of its greatness. I Joined BBYO in the fall of 2018, shortly after my bat-mitzvah. My little 13-year-old curious self would have never thought that she would be here today, writing a blog for The Shofar. Throughout the years, I have gotten to experience, live, laugh and love BBYO, through thick and thin, and it’s so crazy to think that it’s all coming to an end so soon. I am just starting my senior year, and it truly does not feel real. As I’ve twisted and navigated throughout my years in BBYO, I have always had a pity thinking about senior year. The thought of it absolutely horrified me. The thought of having to break off and branch out from the people I love scared me. I had pushed the thought of leaving BBYO behind me, but when COVID hit and everything came to a halt, the thoughts started to float around my brain again. “What do I wanna do senior year?“ “What will my life be like after BBYO?” “Do I want to come back as an advisor?” Do I even want to do this again?” It almost felt like my brain was on constant repeat with those questions, but despite my brain being active and constantly trying to scare me with its thoughts, I kept going. Kept going so much that even though COVID had robbed a good portion of my BBYO years from me, senior year was here before I knew it. It’s officially the year where I start going to things for the last time, where I start having “Senior only” or “Senior surprise!” events, and where everything slowly comes to an end. But as I am just going into my senior year slow and easy, I realize how I learned so much throughout BBYO, and I am slowly starting to realize how huge of an experience BBYO is.

Experiencing BBYO through my senior eyes has been somewhat of a game changer. Watching all of the incoming freshmen navigate their through BBYO, watching the sophomores take leaps into new things that they had hesitated to try as a freshman, watching the juniors curiously watch the seniors to get ideas for their own senior year, and most importantly, watching the seniors grow and take in the last little moments of BBYO, one last time. A tradition I loved during my time in BBYO was “Big Littles”. Growing up, I have always been a very loving and caring person, and whenever my tiny freshman self heard about big littles, my heart almost just exploded out of my chest. I remember being so excited to figure out who my big was, and I absolutely love every second that I remember. Stirring late at night thinking “oh my gosh, who am I gonna be a big to?” “ what type of gifts do I wanna get them?” When I entered the year for my turn to be a big, COVID hit. I remember being absolutely devastated and I was so bummed, thinking that I was never going to be a big to someone. But then a lightbulb hit. I didn’t necessarily NEED someone to tell me I’m a big. I could still be a big in my own way. So that's exactly what I did. Throughout junior year and into senior year I took time studying, freshening up on my BBYO knowledge, going to every leadership event I got an opportunity to, and so much more to take in incoming freshman from and make them feel warmed and welcome. But long story short, through the eyes of I, Micah S.K. Pierandri, a senior who is nowhere near ready to leave BBYO, I have seen that not only does love and happiness get you far, but the gifts you get in return in the upcoming years is just so worth it. I have had alot of ups and downs throughout my BBYO years, some to where it stumped me so bad I almost left. As much as someone or something may get you down, I promise you that you will build yourself back up and shine through as strong as ever. As they say, “Friends may come, friends may go, but friends are forever in BBYO!”

“Do your work as best as you can. If there are people you love, try to never fail them. And if you do, apologize and atone and then turn your face to the broken world and work as if your hair is on fire. To alleviate suffering and heal the wounded. Never pass a shattered human being without doing something to bring restoration, and repair.” - Rabbi Marc Boone Fitzerman