Last May, I remember sitting in the last Jewish Student Union meeting of the year participating in a conversation of why I should be president. I presented reasons of why I felt I was the best fit for the role and waited to hear the decision. Later that week, I received a text from the previous president that I had been chosen as the next president. Needless to say, I was elated. With a two-year presidency staring me down I began the task of growing and maintaining JSU. That summer I corresponded with upcoming freshmen to get them excited for joining the club in the fall.
This fall, my term began. North Atlanta JSU kicked off our first meeting of the year with candy-apple decorating. At the meeting, we discussed the traditions practiced at Rosh Hashana and I started the year off with some icebreakers to bring all of the members of the club closer together. We discussed our favorite Jewish clubs and I gave an introduction as to why having a Jewish Student Union is so important at North Atlanta. Throughout the year I am very proud of all JSU has accomplished. We have brought together the Jewish community at NAHS as well as brought in students who are interested in Judaism and want to help celebrate the culture. This was seen at the Chanukkah event. Chanukkah is the most recognized holiday on the Jewish calendar and so I was expecting a large turnout at our party. The celebration featured Chanukkah-themed inflatables, latke making, and dreidel decorating and competitions. It was our biggest event of the year and everyone in attendance had a lot of fun.
As president, I have worked very hard to grow the club. I started the year off strong by restarting the NAHS JSU Instagram account as well as getting our meetings announced through the whole school. I also worked to recruit lots of new members to the club who had previously not heard of JSU. As the year went on, at some points I may have had lacking communication about meetings, but we were still able to maintain a consistent group of members who attended meetings. A huge personal success of mine was organizing an event with a member of the Jewish Federation. She came to talk with club members about rising antisemitism as well as how to celebrate Jewish culture even in hard times. It was an insightful meeting and I hope to continue the partnership with the Federation next year.
As I move into my senior year, I am excited for all that this club will do. I believe that being president for two consecutive years will help the club as I now have experience in what works best to keep the club running. I have many ideas for the coming year and I cannot wait to grow the club to include all of the rising freshmen.
