There are many opportunities throughout high school to become a leader and involved in activities. Specifically Jewish people at our school are involved in a group called BBYO (B’nai B’rith Youth Organization). What you may not know is Andrew Mannis a junior has a global position that no one else has.
“My main job is to oversee the main goals and functions of the committee,” Mannis said. “The committee is comprised of over 80 high schoolers from 10 countries (and counting), so I make sure that the global connections are impactful, and networking is strong.”
Mannis is the Global Networking Committee Chair for BBYO. His job it to creates and assigns every task, goal, and vision for the year and ensures that the committee members work diligently to globalize BBYO. In basic terms, he creates every task and sees to its completion with subcommittee groups.
“I have on average 3-5 calls a week from anywhere for over an hour,” Mannis said. “They are with people from any given country in the committee and about a variety of topics.”
This job is cutting into a great deal of Mannis’ free time. In addition to taking up school/homework time, it takes up a significant portion of his social life, although he makes many friends through the program.
“I have to spend a large portion of weeknights and most of my weekends working on this committee,” Mannis said.
Like any job, it has its ups and downs. But Mannis speaks of positive friendships as he bonds with students from other parts of the world.
“The best part is the constant and ever-strengthening relationships that I build with teens, just like me, from all over the world,” Mannis said. “I often times wake up to ‘good morning’ texts from friends across the ocean in Europe or in South America.”
According to Mannis, he’s not certain of his future in BBYO. But wants to continue along this path.
“There are a variety of amazing leadership opportunities in BBYO, and I will go wherever they take me,” Mannis said. “I want to be able to make an impact on my community and the world, and so far my path has set me up to do exactly that. I hope to continue this in the future.”
Although most of his work is done in town, there are some opportunities for him to travel and experience different things.
“I am invited on many international trips towards the end of the school year and I go to our International Convention in February early to coordinate the global teen delegations, but technically I’m not required to take these trips,” Mannis said.
Mannis proves his hard working abilities through his leadership role.
“I have become a stronger leader, organized and hard worker, and a better person through this position,” Mannis said.