In the spring of 1985, I was recruited to lead an NCSY summer program, which at the time was the only one the OU offered teenagers. They called it ISS: Israel Summer Seminar. My reluctance notwithstanding, I was encouraged to do so by a few NCSY regional directors, one of whom requested I take his NCSYers from the West Coast and be their madrich (counselor). Though I had never been to Israel before, a free trip seemed like a great idea. Our group consisted of teenagers from Florida, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Oregon, Maryland, and of course, California. I am happy and proud to say I still have relationships with a good number of those NCSYers to this day, and while I continue to refer to them as “my kids,” they are now thankfully my friends, whom I still love very much.