International LIFE Pages of the 89th Grand Board of the Aleph Zadik Aleph and 69th International Board of the B'nai B'rith Girls Ryan Dishell | Page 7

NEVER GIVE UP ON SILLINESS.! ! October 3, 2013. A day I had anticipated for months. A day I built up in my mind as my first defining moment on Grand Board. AZA BBG International Convention 2014 registration was about to open. I thought back to IC 2013, which doubled 2012’s numbers, was held in BBYO’s largest region in a geographically central location, and set the bar tremendously high for any IC that would follow it annually. ! ! Despite my networking and marketing and faith in the great Republic of Texas, I was terrified.! ! I prepared myself with the following regimen: Pokémon FireRed Version, Sour Patch Kids, a Muhammad Ali t-shirt, and a chocolate labrador retriever named Hershey. I screamed neurotically throughout the entire evening.! ! I was in the zone. At least, I was as far into the zone as I could possibly be.! ! That night, we registered approximately 1,600 teens. ! ! When all seemed unlikely, when I swore I was attempting the impossible, AZA and BBG succeeded. ! ! So if I can give one final piece of advice to you, BBYO, I am telling you to be silly. Be ridiculous. Make the joke that everyone’s thinking but nobody is saying. Rap with a group of friends, no matter how much rhythm you do or do not have. Use silly voices. Have silly nicknames. Express silly interests. ! ! Silliness allows us to define our own defining moments. Indeed, being silly may be the only thing that helps us get through them.!