We Need to be Heard

Hi! I am Nicole Siegel. I will start off with telling you about myself. I am a sophomore at River Hill High School. I am a goalie on the varsity field hockey team. I also play lacrosse. I am very active in BBYO ( Bnai Brith Youth Organization).

I am so honored to be honored by Jews for Judaism. I created a Howard County Teen Campaign. I was active in the Teen Campaign in Baltimore, and thought it would be a good idea to have one in Howard County. After a summer filled of hard work, I found a dozen teens to be involved. With a lot of hard work, we created a " Happy 60th Birthday Israel" banner. We charge $1 for people to sign it. We choose our proceeds to go to the Kobe Mandel Foundation and JNF. I am so honored to be honored because I feel that it is our jobs as teenagers to stay Jewish.

A few days ago, I went out to lunch with my brother and Mother and over heard a man speaking. I was very disturbed. This man has every right to speak his mind, but what bothered me the most is that I was eating my meal and had to listen to some fanatic rattle on about Jesus and how everything is God's fault. I was so angry. This man had no right to say what he was saying. I bit my tongue so hard and didn't say anything to this man. Our jobs as teenagers is to be proud to be Jewish. We need to spread our identity.

I am so honored to be involved in such a Jewish life.