By JONAS ACTOR
• Thu, Jul 08, 2010
Earlier this month, I was privileged to travel to Austin to attend the regional convention of Southwest United Synagogue Youth. This specific convention, held June 6-9, marked the region’s 50th anniversary. Themed “Keep SWUSY Weird,” the convention was a rousing success and a lot of fun, with regional elections taking place and the new SWUSY board being installed.
I attended regionals with 12 other teens from the greater Houston area, representing the HouJew chapter of USY. This past year was our inaugural year. Over the course of the year, we grew from a small group of committed teens to more than 30 closely knit friends. We had many events throughout the year, ranging from broomball to laser tag, with many in-between; however, everyone was excited for regionals, which traditionally marks the end of the year.
We participated in many fun activities at regionals, held at the Hilton Austin Airport. A short sampling of the things we did includes a bubble party, two Israel advocacy seminars, swimming, eating and praying at the pool, and catching up with all of our friends from across Oklahoma, Texas and Louisiana.
However, the main events we all were looking forward to were the elections and the banquet. Elections focused on preparing for the year to come. We voted on the positions of regional president and then on each of the five vice presidents that represent our region.
Also at elections, the SWUSY regional constitution was amended through the restructuring of the positions that serve under the regional board. We hope that this amendment helps to increase the efficiency of the region.
At the banquet, SWUSY alumni from all over the region came and dined with us as we installed the new USY regional board, presented various awards commemorating the past year and remembered the last 50 years of USY.
Regional convention was a blast. Everyone had an amazing time. We’re looking forward to the next year and all the conventions to come, along with another successful year for HouJew.
See y’all at the next convention!
Jonas Actor is a JH-V summer intern. He will be a sophomore at Carnegie Vanguard High School for the 2010-11 school year.
